SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Stephen Curry will miss at least three months for the ailing Warriors because of a broken left hand that required surgery, the toughest blow yet in an already difficult season for struggling Golden State following five straight trips to the NBA Finals.
Now, both Splash Brothers are on the sidelines, leaving Golden State thin in the backcourt while facing a 1-3 record and just trying to stay in games. Klay Thompson is recovering from surgery on July 2 for a torn ACL in his left knee. Thompson was injured June 13 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals that clinched Toronto its first championship.
Curry underwent surgery Friday on the hand and second metacarpal of his index finger, and the team said he will miss at least three months but is expected to make a full recovery.
The Warriors said the surgery was performed by Dr. Steven Shin at the Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles. An update on his progress is planned after three months, which would be early February. If he makes that timeline or close to it, Curry would have about 30 games remaining in the regular season.
He has indicated he wants to play for the U.S. team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, so Curry likely would prefer to play games before that.
Specialists examined a CT scan Curry had Thursday, a day after the two-time MVP broke his non-shooting hand in the third quarter of a 121-110 home loss to the Phoenix Suns.
Curry was injured while driving to his left while defended by Kelly Oubre Jr. and with big man Aron Baynes standing in the paint. Curry leapt with the ball then came down head first, landing awkwardly on his hands as he tried to brace himself. Baynes then landed on Curry’s left hand. The 31-year-old Curry grimaced in pain, grabbing at his fingers then walking to the locker room.
Coach Steve Kerr had planned to spend Thursday meeting with his coaching staff to prepare for how to move forward with another man down.
The Warriors, who host the Spurs on Friday night with a back-to-back against Charlotte on Saturday, are also missing forward Kevon Looney. He went into the weekend having missed four straight games because of a right hamstring injury and is scheduled to be evaluated early next week by a team of specialists. Looney is limited to controlled workouts with the training staff for now.
”It’s a great opportunity for these young guys to play, but it’s also a little bit too much. You want to bring along rookies as best you can and we’re just putting so much on their plate, but we have no choice with all the injuries,” Kerr said. ”I think they just have to seize the opportunity and we as coaches have to help them do the best job they can and continue to learn. When you’re a rookie, you see pictures in front of you playing defense that you didn’t see in college and so all these things happen very quickly in the NBA – it’s a fast game.”
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