I thought the last Curry injury would have sunk them, but they barley hung on. The Golden State Warriors are going to have to come together and play their best basketball of the season as Steph Curry’s new knee injury will leave him out indefinitely.
This was the worst news the Warriors could possibly have received: Steph Curry being out for weeks due to ligament damage in his knee.
Not only is Steph Curry the heart of this organization and unanimously the best player on the roster at age 34, but he also was the leading scorer and responsible for many of Golden State’s wins this season. In the 38 games Curry has played for the Warriors so far, he’s posted averages of 29.4 PPG, 6.4 APG, 6.3 RPG, 49.5% shooting from the field, and 42.7% shooting from the 3-point line, which easily tops Golden State’s charts as their best offensive producer.
And, seeing how Golden State currently sits at 28-26 and in 7th place in the West, losing that much offensive output is bound to be devastating.
Even with Curry, the Warriors struggled to beat the best teams in the Western Conference, such as the Denver Nuggets, Memphis Grizzlies, Sacramento Kings, and Dallas Mavericks, as their “young core” of Jordan Poole, Jonathan Kuminga, and James Wiseman have either been inconsistent, injury-prone, or just downright bad when given serious responsibilities.
Thus, the Warriors and HC Steve Kurr have had to rely on the likes of Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green a lot more than they probably expected going into the season, which has forced them to overplay these aging stars in most games this season. Not an ideal situation when you are trying to move on from an aging, declining championship-winning roster.
So, the big question remains: will the Warriors survive long enough without Curry to secure a playoff spot in a competitive Western Conference? Personally, I think they will…easily.
First off, this roster already proved that it could win against most opponents (not the “top dogs”) without Steph Curry in the lineup as they went 6-5 in the eleven-game stretch Curry missed back in late December and early January. Plus, the Warriors don’t have to be fantastic to clinch a playoff spot as even though I said the West was competitive, I didn’t mean that it was due to the teams playing lights out basketball.
As of me writing this article, the team currently in the 10th and final playoff/Play-In spot is the Utah Jazz, a team with a 27-28 record. Nothing to fawn over.
Clearly, as long as the Warriors are able to stay .500 or thereabouts, they should find themselves in either the 7th, 8th, or 9th spot going into the final quarter of the season, giving Steph Curry enough time to recover and come back to help GSW climb up the standings and secure the best possible finish.
Though, even if the Warriors do finish in a Play-In spot, they should easily be able to take care of the Jazz, Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, Thunder, Lakers, or whoever else fills up the three other positions.
Lastly, the biggest reason why I’m confident the Warriors will be able to overcome Steph’s weeks-long knee injury is due to the fact that the upcoming teams they are playing against are not very good.
Over the next ten games of the Warriors season (Feb 7th-March 3rd), Golden State will be facing off against the Lakers (13th in West) twice, the Trail Blazers (11th in West) twice, the Clippers (4th in West) twice, the Rockets (15th in West), the Timberwolves (8th in West), the Pelicans (7th in West), and the Wizards (12th in the East). Aside from the Clippers, who are a streaky and eradict team, not one of these opponents are in an automatic playoff spot (1st-6th).
If the Warriors were ever going to make the playoffs, then these are the kind of games they had to win regardless of Steph Curry’s injury.
So, since they are the defending NBA champions, I’m betting on the Warriors to go on another winning streak in Steph Curry’s absence to secure their spot in the 2023 playoffs, though whether that be an automatic playoff spot or Play-In position is still up in the air.
Right now, I’m betting on a Play-In seeding.
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