Stephen Curry’s latest injury has cast a shadow over the Golden State Warriors’ early-season momentum, and teammate Draymond Green is not sugarcoating the recovery outlook.
The team announced Thursday that Curry suffered an oblique abdominal tear in Wednesday’s 115-108 loss to the Houston Rockets.
He got tangled with Alperen Sengun while setting a screen in the opening minutes of the first quarter and exited shortly afterward.
Officially, the Warriors expect their star guard to miss at least two weeks, yet Green believes the absence could stretch longer.
Speaking on the latest episode of “The Draymond Green Show,” Green was blunt.
“I would say there’s probably no chance that he’s back in two weeks,” he said. “You’re kind of just re-evaluating in two weeks and kind of seeing where you are. An oblique injury is one of those things that, like, tells you when it’s healed. There’s no certain timeline like it. Some of them heal faster than others depending on the severity, depending on where it could be.”
He expanded on the uncertainty that comes with core injuries.
“It’s no certainty, but then you get to the point where you need your core strength, you need your rotational strength, you need all of those things,” Green continued. “As you progress, as the pain starts to subside, you start to push the boundaries more and more. But no one knows how long that’ll take.”
The Warriors should gain a clearer sense of the severity within a few days, and the hope remains that the tear is moderate rather than severe.
Despite the setback, Green sounded confident the roster can manage without Curry for the time being.
After the Rockets defeat, he told reporters the team’s internal belief is stronger than it was a year ago, when Curry missed 39 games with runner’s knee.
“The spirit of this team is better,” Green said. “We’re more certain about who we are and what makes us a good team. … Then obviously, Yax, having a guy that you can give the ball to and create an advantage. BP is playing a lot better.”
Yaxel Lendeborg and Brandin Podziemski have emerged as the clear second and third options behind Curry this season, giving Golden State more reliable creators than it possessed during last year’s long absence.
The Warriors are already 1-1 in games without their franchise player. They face a challenging stretch ahead, beginning Friday night against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Cup.
From there, they travel to New Orleans to meet the Pelicans on Monday, then play a back-to-back against the Dallas Mavericks and Memphis Grizzlies on November 18 and 19.
How well Lendeborg, Podziemski, and the rest of the supporting cast hold up during that stretch will go a long way toward determining whether Golden State can stay competitive while its leader recovers.
