Warriors news: Steve Kerr gives encouraging Steph Curry injury update after Pistons loss

SAN FRANCISCO– Stephen Curry went to the locker room late in the third quarter of the Golden State Warriors’ narrow 131-124 loss to the Detroit Pistons, with the team later ruling him out with “right knee soreness.”

With Jimmy Butler already lost for the season due to a torn ACL, fear arose that Curry’s knee injury could further derail the Warriors’ up-and-down season, once the two-time MVP didn’t return to the Dubs’ bench. However, fortunately for the Warriors, it appears that Curry’s injury is not expected to be anything major.

“I think he’s okay. I don’t think it’s anything major, but we’ll have an update tomorrow,” coach Steve Kerr said post-game. Kerr noted that it’s the same right knee soreness that kept Curry out of the Minnesota Timberwolves game earlier this week and said he didn’t know if Curry would undergo an MRI.

Curry appeared to aggravate his knee injury after an And-1 basket on Ausar Thompson, gingerly walking to the free throw line after the foul. From Warriors forward Gui Santos’ perspective, Curry was battling his knee soreness from as early as the first quarter.

“I noticed that Steph was limping a little bit like since the end of the first quarter,” Santos detailed. “So I saw him limping, and I remember he did an And-1, but he was just limping before he did the And-1. And I said, ‘Man, you tough.’ You can do that with one leg?”

Regardless, it appears as though Curry escaped a significant injury. In the locker room after the game, Curry moved around with the same delicate gimp but did not have any ice or wraps around that right knee.

Warriors’ comeback came up short

Without Curry and obviously, without Butler, the Warriors mounted a late fourth-quarter comeback thanks to the rallying cry of the bench. Santos finished with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting while De’Anthony Melton continued his microwave scoring off the bench with 18 points, five rebounds, and two steals.

But the Pistons’ size and athleticism ultimately proved to be too tall a task to overcome as they bludgeoned the Warriors’ defense throughout the game. And although Golden State cut the lead down to four with 1:19 left in the game, they could not come up with the necessary stops to give them a chance. MVP candidate Cade Cunningham finished with 29 points and 11 assists, while likely first-time all-star Jalen Duran collected 21 points and 13 rebounds.

“I loved the competitive fight of our guys,” Kerr said after the game. They really gave us a chance. That’s a hell of a team, obviously, the number one team in the East. Athletic, a ton of size, and a great team. We just couldn’t quite get over the hump.”

The fight, the grit, and the competitiveness were there from Golden State, something they tend to lack at times in losses to the premier teams in the league. Regardless, the Warriors will have three days off to lick their wounds and prepare for the 76ers coming into town, the final game before the highly anticipated trade deadline.

Other noteables

• Draymond Green picked up his 10th technical foul of the season. An automatic one-game suspension triggers once a player reaches 16 technical fouls. But he also became the third player in Warriors’ history to reach 800 career threes, joining Curry and Klay Thompson.
• No real update on Jonathan Kuminga’s bone bruise in his knee. Remains out for the time being as the Feb 5th trade deadline approaches.
• Melton’s 18 points were the 14th time he reached double figures this season. 12 of those have come in the last 16 games he has played in.
• With the trade deadline comes rumors, but there seems to be a general understanding among the players and the locker room that that stuff is out of their control. Melton said it best: “Early in my career, one of my vets told me when a superstar or whatever wants to get moved, everybody’s on the block. Nobody’s above the program. All you can do is just keep working your game and keep figuring it out. All you need is one team to love you, and so just your biggest thing you can focus on and figure out is your game, yourself, your mindset.”

The post Warriors news: Steve Kerr gives encouraging Steph Curry injury update after Pistons loss appeared first on ClutchPoints.