The Warriors received bad news this week, as it was reported that guard Stephen Curry will be out indefinitely with a sprained right foot. Curry suffered the injury Wednesday night after colliding with Marcus Smart during a game against the Celtics.
However, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is choosing to take an optimistic stance on the injury, explaining the silver lining to Curry missing time.
“The silver lining is that Steph will get a break before the playoffs come,” Kerr said, via NBC Sports Bay Area’s Monte Poole. “Assuming everything goes well, he’ll be ready to roll. As far as the team is concerned, it will give us an opportunity to learn how to execute without him, which will come in handy during those minutes during the playoffs when he’s off the floor.”
Kerr mentioned that the team will use Curry’s injury to perfect its defense in time for the playoffs.
“We’re going to lock in on becoming the defensive team we were the first two-and-a-half months of the season,” Kerr said. “With Draymond back, there’s no reason why we can’t rediscover our defensive identity while Steph is out. We were going to need to do that anyway, so that becomes the focus for these last 12 games.”
The Warriors currently sit in third place in the Western Conference, just a half game back of the Grizzlies for the No. 2 seed. If the season ended today, they would play Nuggets in the playoffs.
Curry has had a solid season by his standards, averaging over 25 points, 6.2 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game over 64 games. However, his 38% three-point percentage is his lowest in a full season in his entire career.
