Sometimes it's the craziest things that come to bite you in the ass when you least expect it. For Steph Curry, it was a small puddle of Lithuanian sweat that wasn't wiped-up by the towel boys...
There's no one really to blame here, it was kinda just one of those freak accidents (even though their are small fixes the NBA has to make now (like adding a towel-boy at half-court and taking all the camera men away from the baseline)). I also think Curry will be fine and probably just has a minor knee sprain. I'm hoping that at the very least, he's out for the rest of the Rockets series and maybe worst-case scenario, he's out 15 days which would put him back in the line-up around Game 2 or Game 3 of the Western Conference Semi's.
The Warriors can survive something like this happening in the first round, The Rockets showed their true colors when the Steph-less Warriors came out in the second half with the intensity turned up full blast. Where you should start to get worried is in the next round, likely vs the Clippers. Doc Rivers is a fantastic basketball mind and him, along with his coaching staff, will be able to completly expose a Warriors team that is missing the MVP. If you thought the Warriors hit dry spells a few times vs the Rockets, get ready for a full-on drought to come in when the Clippers roll into town. The Warriors bigs will have to dodge foul trouble the entire game, Chris Paul will slow the game down to a snails-pace and all the Clippers will bitch and moan their way to the foul line in extremely frustrating fashion. You thought calls for James Harden were bad? Watch any game with Chris Paul at PG and see how many times he throws his head back for calls. The refs will be a HUGE factor in the next series and the Warriors have a terrible track record of being able to deal with officials. Draymond could get in foul trouble early, Klay could enter head-case Brick City and the rest of the Warriors won't be able to pick up the slack when DeAndre and Griffin are combining for 30 points/30 rebounds. The Clippers would make the series a bloodbath of painfully slow, free-throw shooting, grind-it-out style basketball.
The Warriors can survive something like this happening in the first round, The Rockets showed their true colors when the Steph-less Warriors came out in the second half with the intensity turned up full blast. Where you should start to get worried is in the next round, likely vs the Clippers. Doc Rivers is a fantastic basketball mind and him, along with his coaching staff, will be able to completly expose a Warriors team that is missing the MVP. If you thought the Warriors hit dry spells a few times vs the Rockets, get ready for a full-on drought to come in when the Clippers roll into town. The Warriors bigs will have to dodge foul trouble the entire game, Chris Paul will slow the game down to a snails-pace and all the Clippers will bitch and moan their way to the foul line in extremely frustrating fashion. You thought calls for James Harden were bad? Watch any game with Chris Paul at PG and see how many times he throws his head back for calls. The refs will be a HUGE factor in the next series and the Warriors have a terrible track record of being able to deal with officials. Draymond could get in foul trouble early, Klay could enter head-case Brick City and the rest of the Warriors won't be able to pick up the slack when DeAndre and Griffin are combining for 30 points/30 rebounds. The Clippers would make the series a bloodbath of painfully slow, free-throw shooting, grind-it-out style basketball.
We are still not there just yet. For all I know, Curry's knee will be OK and he could be back there for Game 1. All I'm saying is that Curry is the antidote to the Clippers poisonous style of play. When Curry is clicking, Chris Paul gets gassed by the 4th quarter, DeAndre and Griffin are pulled further away from the hoop and the Warriors can play their style of game. Curry is the key though, of course. Why wouldn't he be? He's the two-time reigning MVP. I'm not nervous just yet, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't should Curry's injury cost him more than two games vs the Clippers. So for now, we wait and see what the MRI says..
***UPDATE***
Curry will be re-evaluated in 2 weeks with Grade 1 Knee-Sprain, MRI reveals no damage or tears
-So first thing is that this sucks but it was some-what good news for the Warriors because it could've been a lot worse. Curry will most likely miss the first 3-4 games of the Clippers series depending on how the playoff dates work out. Now, you have to hope the Warriors will wrap-up the series vs the Rockets on Wednesday then the Blazers/Clippers will go 7 so Curry has maximum time to recover and hopefully only miss 2 games or so of the conference Semi's. Go Blazers! D-Lil from Oaktown holding it down for the Bay!
By: El Mijo
***UPDATE***
Curry will be re-evaluated in 2 weeks with Grade 1 Knee-Sprain, MRI reveals no damage or tears
-So first thing is that this sucks but it was some-what good news for the Warriors because it could've been a lot worse. Curry will most likely miss the first 3-4 games of the Clippers series depending on how the playoff dates work out. Now, you have to hope the Warriors will wrap-up the series vs the Rockets on Wednesday then the Blazers/Clippers will go 7 so Curry has maximum time to recover and hopefully only miss 2 games or so of the conference Semi's. Go Blazers! D-Lil from Oaktown holding it down for the Bay!
By: El Mijo