Steph brushes off injury concern after Playoff Jimmy takes over originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The absolute last thing the Warriors can afford with the NBA playoffs right around the corner is any kind of Steph Curry injury concern.
Every Warriors player, coach and fan found themselves full of fear Friday night as Curry shook his right hand in pain during the first quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Curry hit his right thumb against Justin Minaya’s left knee as the Blazers forward guarded him. He then went back to the Warriors’ locker room when coach Steve Kerr took a timeout with two minutes left in the first quarter. Curry initially was considered questionable to return, but then was back with his right thumb wrapped and eight minutes remaining in the first half.
As the Warriors blew out the Blazers at Moda Center, 103-86, Curry played 27 minutes and scored 14 points on 6-of-14 shooting while going 2 of 8 on threes.
X-rays on Curry’s right thumb came back negative, the Warriors told media members in Portland after the game.
“I’m feeling great, ready to play Game 82 on Sunday,” Curry told reporters.
Friday night wasn’t the first time Curry has dealt with an issue to his right hand and thumb this season. He first hurt it in December and has played through the injury since. Curry says he was told the injury was aggravated Friday night, and “hopefully it wasn’t anything serious.”
Whatever level of pain Curry felt when his right thumb jammed into Minaya was obvious. It also didn’t immediately get him out of the game. Curry actually continued on and assisted a Gary Payton II layup on the same play. On the Warriors’ next offensive possession, Curry made an acrobatic floater while crashing to the ground.
But he also was jumping up and down, grabbing his right hand, shaking it and wincing while doing so. Jonathan Kuminga was called for a take foul and Kerr called timeout, essentially to get Curry out of the game and looked at.
Before going back to the locker room, Curry had four points on 2-of-5 shooting, missed his lone 3-point attempt and also had one rebound, one assist and one blocked shot. Though the Warriors were facing an extremely short-handed Blazers team with little to play for, it’s always a positive when the Warriors can stay afloat or outscore their opponent without Curry on the court. The Warriors outscored the Blazers 14-3 while Curry was getting X-rays, giving them a nine-point lead once the star point guard returned.
When Curry came back with a taped right wrist and thumb, he didn’t seem to miss a beat. Curry scored six points – both off 3-pointers – and added three rebounds and three assists in the second quarter. But he clearly was using his left hand, especially dribbling, and on the bench left his right hand on his lap, only using his left to slap hands and celebrate.
Curry admitted the pain affected his shot “a little bit.” He finished with 10 points after getting taped on 4-of-9 shooting and made two of his seven 3-point attempts.
“It was freshly ringing new pain, but I don’t think it will last too long,” Curry said. “I’m not really good with the anatomy. I just know it hurts right now, but I’ll be all right.”
If Curry is to have any ailments, no one player can fill his shoes. However, there is one player teammates, coaches and fans alike will turn to. The player that changed the Warriors’ season. The 35-year-old who the Warriors will be paying over $54 million next season, and more than $56 million the season after that.
Jimmy Butler.
It was the Blazers. It was against some players even most die-hard NBA fans couldn’t name. Still, it was takeover time for Butler. Shades of Playoff Jimmy sprouted in the City of Roses.
Butler scored nine points in the third quarter. He replaced Curry for the final two minutes and 43 seconds of the third and rattled off five points, including a three-point play that brought back memories of his dominant playoff performances with the Miami Heat.
The main goal of the fourth quarter as the Warriors entered leading by 20 points was ensuring Curry could watch the rest of the game from the bench. Butler made sure that was the case. He again scored another nine points in just six-and-a-half minutes. The second half was the secondary star the Warriors acquired two months ago being showcased in front of us days from the postseason.
In 14-and-a-half minutes played over the final two quarters, Butler scored 18 of the Warriors’ 53 points. No other Warrior scored more than six. He was a perfect 7 of 7 on free throws in that span, plus had three rebounds, four assists and two steals. Butler’s 24 total points gave him his 11th 20-point game in his 29th contest since joining Golden State.
He also went 11 of 11 on free throws, and now has 10 games with the Warriors of attempting 10 or more free throws. Prior to his arrival, the Warriors had a total of 10 games this season where a single player shot at least 10 free throws. One man changed everything.
And one man holds the keys to a game where Curry doesn’t live up to his lofty standards, or even worse, injury concerns come back at the most inopportune time.
Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast
