Stephen Curry suffered a tailbone contusion in Wednesday’s Golden State Warriors victory over the Houston Rockets, and the team ruled him out of the game midway through the fourth quarter. The play itself occurred at the end of the third quarter. Curry managed to shake Kevin Porter Jr. in order to create a 3-point attempt, but lost control over his momentum going backward.
Curry appeared to believe that there would be something behind him to slow him down, but there was not. He fell down on metal stairs near the court where fans normally would have been and appeared to be in real pain.
The Warriors hung on to beat the Rockets without Curry, but they cannot afford a prolonged absence. At 21-20, they currently occupy the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference, putting them in position to participate in the play-in round. They are three games behind the Portland Trail Blazers, the current No. 6 seed, and catching them to escape the play-in round even with a healthy Curry would be no easy task.
The Warriors have struggled to generate good shots when Curry leaves the game this season, so any missed games would be extremely difficult for them to handle. There is no timeline on Curry’s recovery yet, though fortunately, contusions tend not to be particularly serious. The Warriors play again on Friday in Memphis. The Grizzlies are directly behind them in the standings, so a healthy Curry will be needed if they plan to create some separation.
