The Golden State Warriors won Game 1 of the series against the Minnesota Timberwolves. But in the process, they lost Stephen Curry to a hamstring injury.
Curry’s MRI results revealed a Grade 1 left hamstring strain, which puts a lot of doubt into his immediate availability for the rest of this series.
Curry then missed Game 2, and the Warriors lost, 117-93.
The question now arises when, or if, Curry will return for the playoffs.
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Is Stephen Curry out for the playoffs?
The initial report from ESPN’s Shams Charania said Curry would miss “at least one week,” which put a potential return around the Game 6 timeframe.
However, ahead of Game 2, Curry didn’t give any sort of updated timeline.
“No, this is new,” Curry said when asked about a return date. “It’ll be one of those, after a week, really re-evaluating every day to understand when it’s safe just to even think about playing.”
Curry also said it is a “tricky” injury, but he would try and get back “as soon as possible,” per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
“And I know how tricky hamstrings can be where they can fool you and think that it’s healed even if you don’t feel anything. And so that gray area is a little, will be confusing I’m sure, but I’ll do everything in my power to get back as soon as possible,” Curry stated.
So, a Game 6 return – which comes on May 18 – is a possible one for Curry. But everything depends on how he feels and how he recovers, especially since Curry is 37 years old and dealing with his first-ever soft tissue injury.
A potential Game 7 would be on May 21 in Minnesota, which would be right around the two-week mark from the time of his MRI results.
All in all, there is no clear timeframe, but the earlier he could return is looking like Game 6, if the series goes that far.
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