Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry was listed as “questionable” by the Warriors for today’s Game Two after twisting his ankle during Golden State’s 104-78 win over Houston in their Western Conference playoffs opener on Saturday.
Curry had 24 points on eight-of-13 shooting, including 16 points in the first quarter, before rolling his right ankle late in the second quarter of the first-round series opener in Oakland, California. The league’s leading scorer, Curry went to the locker room for examination just before halftime and returned to play the first 2:47 of the third quarter before Golden State coach Steve Kerr called a timeout and took his star out of the game.
“I didn’t like the way he was moving when he went back out for the third quarter,” Kerr told reporters. “He wanted to stay in but he wasn’t moving well so we weren’t going to play him regardless.”
Asked for an update on Curry’s status, Kerr replied: “As far as Monday, I would just say Steph is questionable, so we’ll see how he responds the next couple of days and we’ll go from there.
“As far as I understand, he rolled his ankle. I don’t know how bad it is. We’re not going to let him play if there is any risk of making it worse.
“Obviously we’re hoping that we’re going to be in the playoffs for the next couple of months so we don’t want to take any chances.”
Curry, speaking at a post-game news conference, sounded determined to play Game Two, but also issued a note of caution.
“Right now, I don’t see a scenario where I’ll be out. If it’s not right, and I’m at risk of further injury or what-not, that’s the only thing to worry about,” he said. “Pain tolerance, I know what I can deal with on the court, but you don’t want anything more serious to happen, favoring an ankle or what-not, so that’s what we’ll pay attention to the next two days.”