Steph ‘sad' Game 6 return plans were spoiled with Warriors' loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – All Steph Curry needed was the Warriors to win one of their four final games. They couldn’t.
The Warriors lost four straight games to be dropped by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round of the Western Conference semifinals in a five-game series. Curry the day before Game 5 was ruled out because of his strained left hamstring. He also was cleared for light on-court workouts and shooting drills, something Curry had already begun doing.
There was a light at the end of the tunnel. Curry could see it, so could the rest of his Warriors teammates.
But so did the Minnesota Timberwolves. They knew the monster who was lurking in the shadows and never let him out of his cage.
“Everything was kind of aligned for Game 6,” Curry said Thursday at his exit interview. “I had some testing to do, and who knows how that would have went because I haven’t gone live since Game 1.
“First time dealing with this injury. I was pretty optimistic, but there were a couple more checkpoints to get through. But it’s the great what-if.”
Curry was working round the clock to make his return, spending eight to nine hours of rehab every day to get his hamstring in good enough shape to play again. The Warriors would have had three days in between Game 5 and Game 6, perhaps the perfect amount of rest and rehab for Curry to play hero once more.
He was lively on the bench, but also couldn’t fully hide his sadness, shaking his head at a Julius Randle 3-pointer in Game 5. He was at shootarounds, rebounding for teammates and remaining engaged.
As Curry walked off the Target Center court Wednesday after shootaround ahead of Game 5, he got up one last shot. Steph caught a bounce pass from his personal bodyguard, Yusef Wright, and let it fly from the right wing. In mid-air, Curry knew, as he always does, yelling “Yes!” before the ball kissed the bottom of the net.
The rest of the night was a no for the Warriors. No Curry, no wins. The Warriors played the Timberwolves nine times between the regular season and the NBA playoffs. They went 4-1 with Curry, and 0-4 without him.
From the moment the Warriors acquired Jimmy Butler at the trade deadline, they were in playoff mode. There wasn’t any time to take their foot off the gas. Curry had two 50-point games in that span and was playing like his MVP seasons at 37 years old. But he also had to go through the play-in tournament and seven games in the first round of the playoffs while battling injuries to his right thumb, his backside and then his unfortunate hamstring strain to open the second round of the playoffs.
Curry just wanted a chance. He was given one, and then his hamstring said otherwise. He’s proud of the fight the Warriors displayed, but isn’t going to hide his other feelings.
“Definitely disappointed, and frankly just sad that I wasn’t out there able to play,” Curry said. “We have hopefully a bright future in terms of coming back next year and trying again.”
The phrase “gut punch” has been thrown around to describe Curry’s injury. He knows what it takes to even make it to the playoffs, and then to have that taken away was mentally exhausting. His mind and body need a break.
This is the man who played hero for Team USA basketball at the Paris Summer Olympics and carried the weight of a franchise at lowly times before Butler came aboard. He’s a father of four of who wears too many hats to count. The what-ifs will persist.
They also don’t change a thing, and Curry is ready to hit the reset button ahead of doing it all over again.
“It’s going to be just about rebuilding – one, getting rest, like you said, getting away from the game a little bit, and then rebuilding everything for another great run,” he said.
“I’m going to take full advantage of the offseason knowing I’ve been playing a lot of basketball for the last year, and have a lot left in the tank to prepare for, so I’m excited about it.”
