If you were hoping Golden State Warriors’ superstar Stephen Curry would return Tuesday night before their series against the Portland Trail Blazers heads back to Oakland, Steve Kerr has some bad news for you.
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Although Curry is set to miss another week with the knee sprain suffered against the Rockets, Golden State had no problem blowing by Portland in the series’ opening game on Sunday for a 118-106 win.
“I only played 38 minutes in the first round and we finished it in five (games)”, he said.
Klay Thompson- Shooting guard Klay Thompson went off in the first quarter, scoring 18 of the team’s 37 points. The Warriors are scheduled to take Wednesday off from practice, which means Curry could get into running on the court by Thursday or Friday. “I didn’t go out tonight saying I need to get a triple-double to win”, Green said. “It’s nice to have that long break between 2 and 3”, said Kerr before Sunday’s game.
Hitting four three-pointers, Thompson poured in 18 of his 37 points in the first quarter, during which he single-handedly outscored the Trail Blazers 18-17.
“To me they’re pretty good so I’ll do anything I can this week to make that happen”, Stephen Curry said, validating recent updates that his injury was slowly improving.
Bogut had 10 points, 12 rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals while Trail Blazers centre Mason Plumlee had just one point. “I think we can pretty much just stay solid and get good stuff on the offensive end, but against this team, we just got to come out with a defensive mindset when Steph’s not out there. We really have to key in on him and make it physical”, Blazers guard Gerald Henderson said after the game via CBS Sports. As a matter of fact, the Trail Blazers got a rude awakening in Game 1 after getting overwhelmed wire-to-wire by Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and the supporting cast.
“I’ve seen Steph do (that shot) a lot, so I’m just trying to be like him”, he said.
While Varejao ran to help on defense as Blazers guard and Oakland native Damian Lillard drove towards the basket, Henderson was also charging to the rim, possibly to receive the feed.
“We’ll just monitor him and see how it goes and hopefully get him back at some point”, Kerr said. Even though Golden State dominated three of the four games they played, the Blazers were still able to knock down deep shot after deep shot against the second-best 3-point defense in the National Basketball Association. Interestingly enough, while the Warriors look like a victim of the postseason injury bug at first glance, they may also have been the beneficiary of it. It’s nearly certain Curry won’t play in that game, but he said Sunday he believes his chances are good to return for Game 3 at Portland on Saturday. On the other hand, McCollum was 5-for-17 from the field and only managed to score 12 points. A fadeaway jumper from the baseline just inside the 3-point corner a few minutes into the fourth quarter, followed by a couple of relatively meaningless late buckets, seemed like a moral victory for the Lehigh University product.
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An MRI on Curry’s knee showed no structural damage, and early reports indicate that he could be back as early as Game 3 in the second round.
