Dallas Mavericks' McKinley Wright IV (23) crashes into Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry (30) during the third quarter of their NBA game at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023. Curry would leave to the locker room after the collision. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors got another win to bring them above .500 again but might’ve lost Stephen Curry in the process.
Curry’s premature exit from Saturday’s game with an injury overshadowed the Warriors’ 119-113 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
Curry is scheduled to get an MRI after he hurt his left leg in a collision with Mavericks guard McKinley Wright IV in the third quarter.
“Anytime a guy’s gonna get an MRI, there’s a concern level for sure,” coach Steve Kerr said after the game. “We’ll just have to wait and see the results.”
Curry’s left knee appeared to buckle after he banged it against Wright’s knee on a drive to the rim with 2:01 left in the third. Curry, who was whistled for the foul, hobbled to the team’s bench on his own accord. Two team trainers were seen examining Curry’s left leg during a subsequent timeout.
As both teams returned to the court for the pair of free throws, Curry limped to the locker room with Rick Celebrini, the team’s vice president of player health and performance, following closely behind. Curry was officially ruled out with a lower left leg injury in the fourth quarter.
“He plays hard and he’s all over the floor,” Kerr said. “This has happened many, many times over the years, so fingers crossed that he’s OK.”
Initial X-rays of Curry’s leg were negative but he’s expected to undergo additional tests Sunday.
Curry, who will turn 35 next month, finished the night with a team-high 21 points on 7 of 11 shooting. He also had seven assists and six rebounds in 26 minutes.
There was some worry about Curry’s health heading into the game after he got hurt in the second half of Thursday’s loss to the Denver Nuggets. Curry was listed on the team’s injury report ahead of Saturday’s game with a lower left leg contusion, but was cleared to play. It’s unclear whether that previous injury was related to this one.
Curry previously missed 11 games with a partially dislocated left shoulder. The Warriors went 6-5 over that stretch. Knowing that gives Kerr some confidence the team can weather the storm if their lone All-Star has to miss some additional time.
“If he’s out then you move forward,” Kerr said. “We do have some games to lean on, some game film to look at and we’ll be ready for OKC regardless.”
The up-and-down nature of this season has caused the Warriors to rely heavily on their veterans, which is starting to take a physical toll. Draymond Green is currently playing through tightness in his right calf, an injury that caused him to be a late scratch Thursday.
Kerr said he’s been concerned with Curry and Green’s minutes load over the last 10 games. Donte DiVincenzo called on the younger players to step up and help lighten the burden.
“Those guys have a lot of mileage on their bodies so that next-up mentality is huge for us because the better we can play… it takes the load off of them, takes the minutes off of them, and they can pick and choose certain situations and play, scrimmaging and practice, stuff like that,” DiVincenzo said. “But those guys have a lot of mileage and we, as the younger guys… we have to help those guys. The more we step up, we play well, we get bigger leads, it helps them. And I think that’s something we could have done better at tonight.”
The Warriors are 7-8 without Curry this season.
Golden State was up 20 points when Curry went down. The Mavericks, who were without star guard Luka Doncic (bruised right heel), pulled within five with 1:28 left in the fourth after Tim Hardaway Jr. knocked down a 3. That would be the closest Dallas would get.
“I’m thrilled with the win but I’m disappointed with the way we closed the game,” Kerr said. “We’ve got to do better.”
The 27-26 Warriors will host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday.
Originally published at Madeline Kenney