WASHINGTON – Reigning champions the Golden State Warriors will be holding their breath waiting for updates on their injured star player Stephen Curry, as they seek to salvage their National Basketball Association (NBA) season.
The point guard suffered a left shoulder injury late in the third quarter of his team’s 125-119 loss at Indiana on Wednesday.
Four-time NBA champion Curry, last June’s NBA Finals Most Valuable Player, was hurt trying to strip the ball from Indiana’s Jalen Smith as the Pacer drove to the hoop.
The Warriors star held his shoulder until leaving the game moments later and was taken quickly to the locker room.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Curry will have an MRI scan on Thursday to determine the extent of his injury.
“We’ll see how he is tomorrow,” he said. “He’s in good spirits and we’ll hope for the best.”
Curry finished with game highs of 38 points and seven assists as well as seven rebounds. He scored 27 points in the two quarters, half of the Warriors’ first-half total as they trailed 74-54, and finished with his 250th career 30-point performance.
Tyrese Haliburton led Indiana with 29 points while reserve Benedict Mathurin added 24 for the Pacers.
Golden State, seeking a fifth NBA title in nine seasons, fell to 14-15 overall and 2-12 on the road.
“My message to the group was it’s about competing, it’s about weathering the storm,” Kerr said. “This has been a tough start to the season. We’re in a tough stretch.”
Curry has averaged 30 points this season and hit 50 per cent from the floor. He also averaged 6.7 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.7 blocked shots a game.
Losing Curry for any length of time would be a major setback for the Warriors.
“Maybe it’s going to get tougher if Steph is out for a little while. If he’s out, for sure it will be tougher,” Kerr added. “But you’ve just got to persevere, keep playing and keep fighting. If we’re healthy we feel like we can beat anybody.”
Herro hits Heat winner
In Oklahoma City, Tyler Herro scored a game-high 35 points and sank the winning jump shot with 4.9 seconds remaining to give the Miami Heat a 110-108 victory. “The play was drawn up for me to shoot it,” he said. “It was one-on-one, so I felt like I had an advantage.”
In Chicago, New York’s Jalen Brunson scored six points in overtime as the Knicks outscored the Bulls 11-3 in the extra session for a 128-120 road victory.
Julius Randle led New York with 31 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists while Brunson had 30 points and DeMar DeRozan scored a game-high 32 for the Bulls.
“We did a great job of getting timely stops and rebounds when we needed to, and guys hit timely shots,” Randle said.
In San Antonio, Damian Lillard scored 37 points to lead Portland to a 128-112 triumph over the Spurs.
In Toronto, Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox scored 27 points and passed off 10 assists while Domantas Sabonis added 21 points and 20 rebounds to lift the Kings to a 124-123 victory.
Fred VanVleet, who scored a game-high 39 points, missed a three-pointer in the final seconds and Pascal Siakam’s rebound basket only trimmed Sacramento’s final victory margin.
In Charlotte, Alec Burks came off Detroit’s bench to score 27 points while Killian Hayes had 25 for the Pistons in a 141-134 victory.
Croatian Bojan Bogdanovic had 24 points and Jalen Duren added 19 rebounds for the Pistons. Kelly Oubre led the Hornets with 28 points.
In Orlando, Germany’s Franz Wagner scored 24 points and Sudanese-born Bol Bol added 21 to lead the Magic to a 135-124 win over visiting Atlanta. Trae Young had 19 points and 16 assists for the Hawks.
Wagner scored 11 points in the first quarter, when Orlando set a club record by scoring 50 points. It was one shy of the NBA first-quarter record set by Denver in 2019. AFP
