Steph Curry is out for at least the next three games of the Warriors’ series with the Timberwolves after straining his left hamstring during Game 1 in Minneapolis.
It isn’t the first time the Warriors have missed him in the postseason, and if you look at their history without him, their win Tuesday night after he went out may not be all that surprising.
Golden State is 9-3 all-time in the playoffs without Curry, though it’s worth noting that his two prior playoff injuries came during the Warriors’ dynastic run as the NBA’s preeminent team. They were the West’s No. 1 seed in 2016, coming off the best regular season of all time, and the No. 2 seed in 2018 as defending champions after adding Kevin Durant.
This time, they are a No. 7 seed that heated up down the stretch after acquiring Jimmy Butler via trade from Miami.
Coach Steve Kerr acknowledged that the Warriors in those instances had an all-time roster.
“When you can bring Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala into the game, you’re in pretty good shape,” he said.
“But there is a lesson: You have to understand what it takes to win a game without your best player. … It’s about the intensity, the heart, the fight. If you do that, you give yourself a chance and you just find ways to score.”
Here’s a look at how the Warriors fared the two times Curry has missed playoff action:
2016 ankle and knee injuries
Curry and the defending champs had everything going their way heading into the playoffs. Curry scored 83 points in the final two games of the regular season, including 47 against Memphis as Golden State broke the 1996 Chicago Bulls’ NBA record with its 73rd win on the final day of the regular season.
But Curry injured his ankle early in Game 1 of the first-round series against the Houston Rockets and watched from the bench as the teams split the next two games. Curry returned for Game 4, but slipped and fell during the game and suffered a Grade 1 MCL sprain in his right knee. Curry’s Splash Brother, Klay Thompson, helped lead the Warriors to lopsided victories to close out the series in five games.
Thompson and Draymond Green powered the Curry-less Warriors to a 2-1 series lead in their second-round series against Portland. Curry was on the bench for the start of Game 4, but returned to the court after the Blazers opened Game 4 with a 16-2 run. The MVP scored 40 points, including 17 of the Warriors’ 21 points in overtime in a 135-125 win. After a Blazers timeout following one of his six 3-pointers in OT, Curry used the moment to deliver a message: “I’m back!”
Curry played a team-high 37 minutes and scored 29 points two days later to end the series and played in every game of the Western Conference Finals against Oklahoma City and the Finals rematch against Cleveland, which both went seven games. But in the end, the Warriors blew a 3-1 series lead to the Cavs.
2018 knee injury
In his first game back from a rolled ankle that cost him six regular-season games, he sprained his left MCL in a March 23 game against Atlanta when JaVale McGee landed into his leg after contesting a shot.
He missed the last 10 regular-season games and the Warriors went 4-6 over that period. But in the playoffs, they turned on the jets.
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Andre Iguodala moved from his usual super-sub role into the starting lineup and the Warriors rolled over the seventh-seeded Spurs in five games as Durant and Klay Thompson took on greater scoring roles. They won the first three games by double digits, then closed out in Game 5 as Draymond Green had 17 points and 19 rebounds.
The Warriors then won Game 1 of their second-round series against New Orleans, going small with Nick Young starting instead of JaVale McGee. Curry returned for Game 2 and scored 28 points off the bench in a 121-116 win.
He started the rest of the way as the Warriors beat Houston in an epic Western Conference Finals series that saw him make seven 3-pointers in the Game 7 win as the Rockets missed 27 consecutive 3s. The Warriors then swept Cleveland for a second straight title.