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Warriors expect injured Steph Curry to miss ‘week or a little more,' per report

Warriors expect injured Steph Curry to miss ‘week or a little more,' per report originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Warriors will have to navigate the next week or so without superstar guard Steph Curry.

Golden State expects Curry to miss “a week or a little more” because of a quad contusion he sustained in Wednesday night’s loss to the Houston Rockets, ESPN’s Shams Charania and Anthony Slater reported Thursday, citing sources.

The good news for the Warriors, per Charania and Slater, is that Curry appears to have avoided a serious injury.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters after Wednesday’s game that Curry was scheduled to undergo an MRI.

Curry sustained the injury late in the fourth quarter against the Rockets, and while he initially played through the injury, he was forced to head to the locker room in the final seconds of the loss.

Bottled up by the Rockets’ defense, Curry finished with 14 points on 4 of 13 shooting from the field and 2 of 9 from 3-point range.

If Curry misses exactly one week, he won’t play in the Warriors’ next three games — at home against the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday, at home against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday, Dec. 2 and on the road against the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday, Dec 4.

Beyond that, the Warriors have a road back-to-back against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday, Dec. 6 and the Chicago Bulls on Sunday, Dec. 7.

Because the Warriors didn’t qualify for the 2025 NBA Cup quarterfinals, they won’t play again until Thursday, Dec. 11 or Friday, Dec. 12.

So if Curry needs more than a week to recover, he could eye the unannounced regular-season game.

The Warriors went 1-2 when Curry missed a three-game stretch earlier this season due to an illness.

Sitting at 10-10 ahead of Saturday’s game against the Pelicans, Golden State appears to be at an inflexion point, with Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler calling out their teammates following Wednesday’s loss.

Wins already are hard to come by for the Warriors right now, and that task will be even tougher without Curry for the next few games.

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Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, nearing breaking point, sound alarm about Warriors

Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, nearing breaking point, sound alarm about Warriors originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – After the Warriors faded down the stretch Wednesday night, trudging into the locker room wearing a 104-100 loss to the Houston Rockets, Jimmy Butler III cleared his throat and spat out flames.

“We don’t box out,” Butler said. “We don’t go with the scouting report. We let anybody do whatever they want. Open shots, get into the paint, free throws. It’s just sad.”

A few minutes later, Draymond Green came along, throwing another level of heat directed at the play of the Warriors this season – again directed at the defense.

“Our defense is s—t,” Green said. “Because it’s not necessarily the numbers. How do you feel when you out there? And it’s just letdown after letdown. It’s bigger than the numbers, you know what I’m saying? Defense is about demeanor. If there’s letdown after letdown, then it kills your demeanor, it kills your bravado, then you’re just a soft team.

“It’s bigger than the numbers. Like, what does the other team feel when you’re defending them? And right now, they don’t feel no force. Even if you’re getting stops. Yeah, we got great coaches, we gon’ have a good scheme. But what about the force? We don’t have that.”

The Warriors, at least the accomplished veterans, don’t like the product they’re delivering to themselves and their fans. They came to training camp with visions of making one more run toward a championship, coming together to earn a fifth ring for Stephen Curry and Green, a first for Butler and a second for first-year Warrior Al Horford.

But 20 games into the season, the Warriors keep circling the block instead of marching toward their goal. Progress, regression, progress, regression. They return to the same place, profoundly displeased with their inability to cross the street and make real strides.

Standing in the locker room, Butler pointed at the cloth covering the board where the game plan and scouting reports are posted and defended the work of coach Steve Kerr and his staff, blowing off the notion of Kerr pointing the finger at himself.

“I just think we need to do what we’re supposed to, be out there doing as players,” Butler said. “I don’t care what Steve says. It’s not on him, and it’s not on the coaches. Y’all can’t see (the board), but it’s back there somewhere. Yeah, they write everything up there for us to do, and they put us in the position to be successful. We go over it the day before, the day of. We got to go out there and execute, man.

“So don’t listen to Steve. And he said, ‘This is on me,’ and he got to be better. Nah, it’s on these guys around this locker room.”

This is not the first time this season that Butler and Green have pointed out the team’s recurring inadequacies. They raised similar issues 16 days ago after the Warriors were blown out by the Thunder in Oklahoma City. Golden State’s record was 6-6 after that loss, and it is 4-4 since.

Circling the block.

Some of Golden State’s defensive statistics seem which seem acceptable, ranking 10th in defensive rating. Other statistics, not so much. The Warriors are 15th in field-goal percentage defense and 22nd in rebounding, both of which are central components of defense.

Butler and Green look beyond the numbers, and peer into the team’s overall disposition. How does it respond to even the slightest adversity? They don’t like what they see.

“When we’re making shots, we’re celebrating, we’re cheering,” Butler said. “We’re doing all those things. When we’re not and when the game’s not going our way, we put our head down and we mope. And then we don’t box out, we don’t get back, we foul, we do all the bad things.

“When it’s going good – you know, some people call it front-running – but when it’s going good, it’s all smiles.”

There were no smiles among the Warriors late Wednesday night. The locker room, rollicking on Monday, was dissatisfied and somber, partly because they lost a home game in which they held a 12-point lead at the half and partly because Stephen Curry left in the fourth quarter with a right quad contusion.

The Warriors have been better with Curry (9-7) than without him (1-3), but five weeks into the season, they’ve yet to sustain the slightest whisper of momentum.

How do the Warriors break this chain of futility?

“It requires individuals, all of us, as individuals, to take on your challenge,” Green said. “If you take on your challenge, then we can make the team thing work. The only way the team thing works is if we take on the individual challenge.

“And right now, we are individually – and I know everybody likes to twist words – we are individually f—ing awful.”

The Warriors are not bleeping awful by NBA standards; 17 teams have better a record, 12 are worse. They are, in certain aspects, deeply awful by the standard set by Curry and Green and expected by Butler.

When the vets spoke up two weeks ago, there was a welcome response. The Warriors won three in a row. And now, once again, the vets are speaking up, this time a bit louder.

Is anybody listening?

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Gilgeous-Alexander scores 40 points in Thunder win

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander holds up his arms
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named the Most Valuable Player last season [Getty Images]

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points to help the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 10th successive NBA win.

Listed as ill on Thunder's injury report, Gilgeous-Alexander starred in a 113-105 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA Cup at Paycom Center.

The 27-year-old has registered at least 20 points in 91 consecutive games - the third longest streak in NBA history.

Anthony Edwards recorded 31 points and eight rebounds for the Timberwolves, who have lost three games in a row.

Oklahoma are only the fifth team in NBA history to begin a season with 18 wins and one defeat, while they have won all three NBA Cup games to lead West Group A.

The NBA Cup is an in-season tournament where teams compete for a trophy, but results also count towards the overall season standings.

The Thunder host the Phoenix Suns on Saturday, while the Timberwolves welcome the Boston Celtics.

The Toronto Raptors qualified for the quarter-finals with a 97-95 home win against the Indiana Pacers.

Brandon Ingram scored in the last second to seal the Raptors' ninth victory in succession.

Reed Sheppard put in a career-best 31-point performance as the Houston Rockets beat the Golden State Warriors 104-100 in San Francisco.

The Detroit Pistons missed out on a franchise record 14th straight win as Jaylen Brown scored 33 points and made 10 rebounds to lead the Boston Celtics to a 117-114 home victory.

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No. 7 Michigan routs No. 12 Gonzaga 101-61

HOUSTON 66, NOTRE DAME 56 LAS VEGAS (AP) — Emanuel Sharp scored 17 points to lead Houston to a victory over Notre Dame in the consolation game of the Players Era Championship. Houston (7-1), which had its season-opening six-game win streak halted in the tournament's second round against No. Tennessee 76-73, opened with a 26-4 run against Notre Dame (5-3) and withstood a late comeback try by the Irish.

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Conwell excels for No. 6 Louisville in 104-47 rout against NJIT

Ryan Conwell scored 32 points and No. 6 Louisville hit 20 shots from 3-point distance, its most in 18 years, while overpowering NJIT in a 104-47 victory Wednesday night. Conwell did more than just score, too, as he finished with nine rebounds and six assists to go with 9-of-17 shooting. The Cardinals never trailed as they topped the century mark for the fourth time this season and enjoyed dominant stretches on both sides of the court.

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Josh Hart propels Knicks to big first half lead in 129-101 rout over Hornets

The Knicks had an offensive explosion on Wednesday night, beating the Charlotte Hornets, 129-101.

Here are the takeaways...

-- Things got off to a fast start as both offenses came out firing and shot the ball extremely well in the first quarter. Josh Hart, in particular, had a fantastic opening quarter in what was his second start of the season after he logged 38 minutes in a win against the Nets last time out. 

The 30-year-old looked like a man inspired and scored 11 points on a perfect 4-for-4 from the field in eight minutes on the floor. He also had a steal and an assist in what was a fast-paced and entertaining back-and-forth first quarter.

-- It wasn't just Hart, though, as every starter saw at least two baskets go through in the opening frame. Jalen Brunson (9), Karl-Anthony Towns (6), Mikal Bridges (6) and Miles McBride (5), along with Hart, combined to score 37 points and shoot 15-of-20 (75 percent) from the field. 

-- Mitchell Robinson led everybody with three rebounds in four minutes off the bench, while Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele also saw some minutes. 

-- The Hornets had a similarly successful first quarter with Collin Sexton leading the scoring charge with seven points off the bench. LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges each had five and after 12 minutes, New York was up 37-31.

-- Scoring slowed to start the second quarter as both teams began the period 3-for-11 from the field. Nevertheless, the Knicks continued to add to their lead and were up by 15 after Brunson completed an and-one with 3:35 remaining in the half as Charlotte struggled mightily on offense. 

-- Things exploded from there with New York ending the half on a 15-2 run to take complete control. The two daggers came in the final minute when Brunson and Hart each splashed deep three-pointers, with Hart's coming with 1.2 seconds left. The last-second triple was Hart's third of the half as he led all scorers with 19 points (7-for-9 from the field, 3-for-3 from deep, 2-for-2 at the free throw line) heading into the locker room with the Knicks up, 72-47.

-- Essentially over from there, New York did well to not let the Hornets get back into the game in the second half as Brunson carried the load offensively by scoring 16 points in the third quarter. It wasn't his most efficient night, shooting 14-for-28 from the field and 2-for-6 from three, but Brunson ended with a game-high 33 points.

-- After his incredible first half, Hart took a backseat to Brunson in the second and let the point guard cook. Still, Hart finished with 22 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals in a do-it-all type performance. Towns had a double-double (19 points, 10 rebounds), Bridges had 18 points and McBride added 19 to round out most of the Knicks' scoring.

-- New York shot an incredible 57 percent from the field, 52 percent from deep and 89 percent from the charity stripe in one of its most impressive offensive showings, especially on the road. It was enough to capture just the team's third road win of the season and they are now 3-5 away from MSG. 

-- The Knicks are now 2-1 in NBA Cup group stage play.

Game MVP: Josh Hart

Hart was everywhere in the first half and was a big reason why the Knicks got out to such a big lead at halftime.

Highlights

What's next

The Knicks return home after a five-game road trip to take on the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night in their final NBA Cup group stage matchup. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.