Stephen Curry is out at least three weeks with a Grade 2 MCL sprain in his left knee, and according to head coach Steve Kerr, is expected to miss the entire first round of the playoffs. Kerr, however, is confident that his reigning NBA Champion Warriors can take care business in the absence of their two-time league MVP.
Following from Anthony Slater of the Athletic,
The obvious message from Steve Kerr today: Confidence.
"Regular season or playoffs, we can beat anybody without Steph."
The full quote pic.twitter.com/hLuPM9Aeze— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) March 26, 2018
“I watched this team two years ago without Kevin [Durant] win playoff games without Steph. We beat Houston in the first round and Steph missed four games. Played part of Game 1 and part of Game 4. Missed most of the series and we won in five. Then we played Portland in the next round and we won the first two games without him. …So we’re perfectly capable of beating anybody – regular season or playoffs, we can beat anybody without Steph. It’s going to be hard to beat anybody without Steph, KD, Klay [Thompson], and Draymond [Green]. I’m going to have to coach a lot better for that to happen. But we’re very confident that we’ll get these three guys back soon and we’ll hold down the fort.”
The Warriors are the only team that can field, at full strength, four legitimate All-NBA players in their prime. All four of Green, Thompson, Curry, and Durant have missed time in the latter part of this season due to injury. As the playoffs near in the next couple of weeks, the team will look to regroup and tackle the first part of the postseason without the services of Curry. Quin Cook, the Warriors backup point guard, has done a serviceable job this year when Curry has missed time.
Curry has missed 22 games so far, this season due to a variety of injuries. Curry previously missed over three weeks after suffering a right ankle sprain in early December.
