Steph Curry is out with an injury. And boy, are the Warriors feeling his absence! Curry has been out with a hamstring injury suffered in the first half of Game 1. He not only missed Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals against Minnesota, but could very well sit out the next two games as well before even getting reevaluated.
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This is very worrying news for Golden State. In Steph’s absence, the Warriors weren’t even particularly close to the Timberwolves in the game. After a 13-0 Wolves run to start the game, the final score read 117-93 in Minnesota’s favor. They did not have a single player score 20 points or more. Simply put, the Warriors were not in the fight on the night of May 8 without Steph.
Without Curry’s gravity freeing up Buddy Hield for pin downs or opening up the paint for Jimmy Butler, long stretches of ineptitude played out. After the loss, Charles Barkley spoke about how much Curry would theoretically be worth to this team if there were no maximums on contract value. To Barkley, the Warriors’ star and former MVP was seemingly the only thing keeping the offense afloat.
“I tell you, Steph needs a raise… Their offense looked ridiculous. There were probably 20 times where the shot clock got three to five seconds, and they were still out passing around the three-point line,” Barkley pointed out.
“A point guard, let’s use the football analogy, a wide receiver can’t get the ball to himself… they were just running around going one on one,” he added.
Steph currently has two more years left on his contract. He makes an average of over $55 million. That would make him one of the highest-paid players in the NBA. Sounds like a lot of money, but this is less than what Taylor Swift makes in three days!
Can Golden State manage without Steph Curry?
It’s hard to overstate the guard’s value. Barkley was right in his assertion that the Warriors could not do anything without him. “He’s on a max, but they need to get him on a max-er,” joked Chuck.
The entirety of this Warriors team has been built around Steph Curry and his undeniable ability to put others in good situations. While Golden State could stomach missing Butler, replacing him with Jonathan Kuminga and Hield, this car cannot run without the engine, i.e., Steph.
Unfortunately, this could continue going ahead in the series. If Golden State can’t figure out how to play without their franchise centerpiece of 16 years, they will find themselves sent home before he can even return. Currently, the Wolves lead 2-1 going into the fourth game on Monday night.
