CLICK HERE if you are having a problem viewing the videos on a mobile device The one thing that couldn’t happen did. The Warriors had one goal for their game against the Pelicans Tuesday — the penultimate game of a regular season: Don’t get injured. So what happened? Stephen Curry sprained his right ankle in the first quarter. The Warriors categorize Curry’s injury as a “mild right foot sprain” and they kept him out of the remainder of the game for what they called “precautionary reasons”. Coach Steve Kerr said after the game that he thinks Curry will be able to play in Game 1 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals this weekend at Oracle Arena. For the Warriors’ sake, let’s hope that is, indeed, the case. Because if it isn’t — and the basketball gods decided to play a practical joke on the NBA’s best team — the once seemingly inevitable Warriors’ title, their third in a row and fourth in five years, becomes, well, slightly evitable. Only time will tell if Kerr’s postgame optimism is well-placed or not. Curry is expected to get at least three days off before the postseason gets underway. In that meantime, though, the Warriors should heed to the warnings of those possibly twisted basketball gods. The team will play its regular-season finale in Memphis on Wednesday. It’s a contest that is literally meaningless to the Warriors, who clinched the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs on Sunday and can do nothing to influence who their first-round opponent will be. So for Game No. 82, the Warriors should rest all five of their normal starters. Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson rested Tuesday night. They should get Wednesday off as well. Draymond Green played 18 minutes against the Pelicans (a tacit admission that playing any of the starters was a bad idea). He should play zero Wednesday. Cousins hasn’t played in a back-to-back all season and the Warriors shouldn’t deviate from that plan for the contest in Memphis either. Hell, go beyond the starters — Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston? They can take the night off, too — the veterans will be needed for the postseason. And, of course, Curry shouldn’t be within 100 feet of the court itself. Preferably, he’d be wrapped in a Zorb at an undisclosed location in Tennessee (or is he in Missouri… or Mississippi?) Is this plan overly cautious and a bit hysterical? Absolutely. But there’s literally nothing good that can be achieved in Wednesday’s game for the core of this Golden State roster. And after Tuesday, it’s easy to think of all the bad that can go down. I’ll admit that this plan is not fair to the Memphis fans who paid to see The Warriors, but I’d like to remind everyone that Golden State is not the Harlem Globetrotters. Yes, they might put on a similarly spectacular show of roundball skill, but the scores of their games are not preordained. The Dubs might have the top seed locked up, but with the playoffs looming, they have to look out for No. 1 here. Or, more specifically, Nos. 35, 11, 0, 23, and 30. If Curry is out longer than the Warriors expected following Tuesday’s game, this team can handle it — Golden State won in both the early stages of the 2016 and 2018 playoffs without Curry. But if Curry is out or hobbled and another starter is on the bench with an injury, that spells trouble for the Warriors.. This team might be exceptionally talented, but it’s also top-heavy. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you can watch Wednesday night’s game, where the Warriors’ nine-man roster should be Andrew Bogut, Kevon Looney, Jonas Jerebko, Jordan Bell, Damian Lee, Quinn Cook, Jacob Evans, Alfonzo McKinnie, and Marcus Derrickson. (I will concede that lineup might make Wednesday’s game interesting — the tanking Grizzlies aren’t good and their best players are benched, too. Welcome to the NBA in 2019!) If NBA commissioner Adam Silver throws a conniption over resting healthy players, so be it. This is what needs to be done. The Warriors can pay the fine with the proceeds from title t-shirts.<doc-sep>On Tuesday night, the Golden State Warriors hosted the Houston Rockets in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals. The Warriors jumped out to an early lead on Tuesday night thanks to Andre Iguodala, who scored the first six points of the game. Early in the game, the Warriors received some rough news. Star point guard Steph Curry left the game clutching his hand. It appears Curry suffered an injury while going for a steal in the early minutes of the first quarter. A photo of Curry’s hand shows his finger looks askew. Check it out. Curry's finger does not look great pic.twitter.com/2omcEHBVZR — CJ Fogler (@cjzero) May 1, 2019 It’s the latest in a long line of injuries for the Warriors star. Earlier this season, Steph suffered a groin injury that forced him to miss several games. In the first-round series against the Los Angeles Clippers, Curry suffered what looked to be a nasty sprained ankle – though he bounced back. Golden State jumped out to an early lead in Game 1 of the series before the Rockets finished with a flurry to make it interesting in the end. Despite complaining about the officiating, the Rockets’ comeback attempt failed and Houston saw a 1-0 deficit in the series. Stay tuned for an official announcement from the team regarding Steph’s injury.<doc-sep>Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry is still in pain after dislocating his right middle finger in the early minutes of Golden State’s Game 2 win versus the Houston Rockets at Oracle Arena on Tuesday. But, according to Warriors coach Steve Kerr, Curry — who returned and finished Game 2 with 20 points, five assists, two steals and one blocks — was not limited in practice on Thursday. Kerr says his All-Star guard is expected to play in Saturday’s pivotal Game 3 in Houston: He practiced fully. He’s got it taped up, but it’s probably good that we’ve got a few days off. So hopefully the pain will continue to go down as we get closer to game time. ESPN’s Nick Friedell reported that Curry did not show visible signs of pain while going through his post-practice shooting routine on Thursday, his middle and ring fingers taped together. But managing pain in a solo shooting effort after practice is much different than managing it through the speed and contact of an NBA playoff game. Klay Thompson knows his fellow Splash Brother will work through the discomfort and help his team. In the most Klay way ever, Thompson explained: It’s not that fun. But I know Steph, he’ll get it back. A dislocated finger, it sucks, but luckily you can pop it right back into place and it’s not the end of the world. It’s not like he tore ligaments or anything, so he’ll tough it out. The Warriors tip off against the Rockets on Saturday, May 4, at 8:30 p.m. on ABC.<doc-sep>Just minutes into the Golden State Warriors game against the Houston Rockets on Tuesday, Steph Curry suffered an injury to his hand. Curry appeared to hurt his finger while trying to poke the ball away from Clint Capela. He immediately walked to the bench, and showed lots of pain. Cameras picked up what looked like a dislocated finger. Steph Curry getting his left hand looked at. Immediately going to the locker room. Looked like it happened while trying to poke it away from Capela under the hoop. — Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) May 1, 2019 Curry hurts his left hand. Perhaps a dislocated finger? Anyone else see it sticking out strangely? pic.twitter.com/uNn5bRKaaf — BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) May 1, 2019 It’s impossible to know the severity of the injury. However, the Warriors have set a precedent for dislocated fingers - earlier in the season Klay Thompson suffered one, and returned later in the game. Klay Thompson dislocated his finger similarly a couple months back. Left the game briefly, got it taped, returned, didn't miss any time. — Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) May 1, 2019 Knowing Curry’s toughness, and the severity of the game, the two-time MVP will certainly want to stay in the game. But the team will obviously be careful with him. The most important thing is making sure he’s fully healthy for Saturday’s Game 3 in Houston. Update: Curry returned to the game just a few minutes later. The official report is a dislocated middle finger on his left (non-shooting) hand. Curry had the finger popped back in and taped before returning.<doc-sep>
Jeff Chiu/Associated Press Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry is expected to play in Game 3 against the Houston Rockets on Saturday night after he dislocated the middle finger on his left hand during Tuesday's Game 2, according to ESPN's Nick Friedell. "He practiced fully," Golden State coach Steve Kerr said on Thursday, per Friedell. "He's got it taped up but it's probably good that we've got a few days off. So hopefully [the pain] will continue to go down as we get closer to game time." The two-time NBA MVP had to make his way to the locker room in the opening minutes of Game 2 after he walked off the court in obvious discomfort: X-rays taken Tuesday came back negative. Curry would miss just more than three minutes of game time before he checked back in, and he went on to log 33 minutes in Game 2. While he posted 20 points in a 115-109 victory, the six-time All-Star hardly looked like himself. He shot just 6-of-16 from the floor, including a 3-of-13 showing from three-point range while two fingers on his left hand were taped together. After helping the Warriors grab a 2-0 series lead, Curry downplayed the injury, per the Mercury News' Matt Schneidman: Video Play Button Videos you might like "It hurts, but it'll be alright. I didn't break anything. I am fortunate and some higher powers were looking out for me on that one, but hopefully before Saturday that goes away and I'll be fine. I was able to play. It's different when I've never had a dislocated finger like that before and they pop it back in and you're just dealing with pain, but I wasn't thinking about it out there." This is just the latest postseason injury Curry has battled in recent years. He missed six games due to an MCLsprain during the 2016 playoffs and was sidelined for the first six contests with a knee injury last year. Golden State went 5-6 during an 11-game stretch without Curry (groin) earlier this season.