Steph Curry continued his hot shooting from the second half of Game 7 against the Houston Rockets by scoring 13 points in 13 minutes in Game 1 against the Minnesota Timberwolves. But his hamstring injury makes the Golden State Warriors‘ path to more series wins much more onerous.
The Warriors announced Wednesday that Curry would miss at least one week after he was diagnosed with a Grade 1 hamstring strain. That’s relatively good news for the Warriors, since that’s the lowest degree of injury, but it still means he’ll miss at least the next three games. If the Warriors can win one of those games, Curry could sit until Game 6 on May 18, giving him 12 days of recovery time.
Can the Warriors stay afloat while Curry is out? They’ll need to lean heavily on Jimmy Butler to do it. “Playoff Jimmy” has carried short-handed teams to playoff success in the past, thanks to his playmaking, defense and strong ability to get to the foul line.
Golden State got five three-pointers from Buddy Hield in Game 1 and four from Draymond Green, but they’ll need some of their young role players to step up. Second-year guard Brandin Podziemski scored only three points Tuesday night, but he had a 26-point effort against the Rockets. Moses Moody will likely play more than his nine minutes Tuesday, but his shooting has been inconsistent, while Gary Payton II’s offensive game is primarily created by others in the form of corner threes and dunks.
The wild card is Jonathan Kuminga, the fourth-year forward who had fallen out of coach Steve Kerr’s rotation in the first round. While Kuminga has struggled, he does have a unique ability among the remaining Warriors to drive to the hoop and draw fouls. The Warriors will need Kuminga to carry the scoring load at times, despite his defensive limitations.
The Warriors’ best hope comes on the other side of the ball, where Curry-free lineups featuring Butler were top-tier defenses. Since Butler joined the team in February, such units have a point differential of +12.8 thanks to their lockdown defense. Payton and Green aren’t great shooters, but they’re elite defenders, as is Butler. Giving more minutes to Moody and center Kevon Looney gives the Warriors more rebounding and defense as well.
It’s going to be hard for the Warriors to mount comebacks if they fall behind too far. But their defense might be enough to keep them in this series until — or if — Curry returns.
