Stephen Curry sat down after the Golden State Warriors went through their shootaround practice in Minneapolis on Thursday, quickly announcing that he’s feeling great.
He was not telling the truth.
“Sarcasm,” the four-time NBA champion with the Warriors quickly clarified, just in case anyone missed the joke.
Curry is going to be a postseason spectator for at least a few games, his Grade 1 hamstring strain bad enough that it forced him out in the second quarter of Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinal series at Minnesota on Tuesday night. He missed the lopsided Game 2 loss to the Timberwolves on Thursday night that evened the series and will likely be sidelined for at least Games 3 and 4 in San Francisco, too.
Curry — who is with the team but isn’t allowed to do anything basketball-related yet, even stationary shooting — isn’t exactly sure how or why the injury happened. He’s never had any hamstring issue of significance before.
“It’s hard to really predict this stuff is what I’m learning,” Curry said. “There were no, like, warning signs or any weird feelings. I felt great the whole game up until that point. And then I made a little pivot move on defense and felt something.”
Curry thought he would be able to return to Game 1, then quickly realized that wasn’t the case. Playing with the strain could have made the issue far worse, Curry said. Hamstrings, he’s quickly learning, need time no matter what sort of rehabilitation program he partakes in.
“Obviously, a tough break,” Curry said. “Hopefully, I’ll be back soon.”
Curry scored 13 points in 13 minutes of Game 1 before his exit, and Golden State went on to a 99-88 win. Buddy Hield, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green combined for 62 points for the Warriors, who held Minnesota to a 5-for-29 clunker on 3-point tries and limited the Timberwolves to 60 points through three quarters.
“We have a lot of confidence that we can still win the series and guys will step up no matter how it looks,” Curry said. “And it’s obviously a situation where you want to think positively and optimistically that we can win games and buy me some time to get back and hopefully have another series after this and be able to be in a position where I can get back out there safely, where I’m not putting too much risk on the body if it’s not ready.”
Curry, who is averaging a team-best 22 points in these playoffs, can still contribute in small ways even if he’s not playing.
“The guys obviously revere Steph, and they love his presence and that’ll matter to us tonight during the game,” coach Steve Kerr said in his pregame interview. “I’m sure he’ll be talking to the guys on the sidelines and giving some thoughts. He may come into our huddle and make a suggestion, which I always welcome, so it’s good to have him here for sure.”
At one point, when Green picked up his fifth technical foul of the playoffs, two short of an automatic one-game suspension, Curry was concerned enough about his pal getting ejected for a second technical that he went over to the scorer’s table to try to talk Green down and walk him back to the bench.
But not having Curry on the court clearly hurt.
“Everybody knows it’s difficult to recreate or even get close to doing what he does, but we’re going to have to find a way,” Butler said. “So we’ll go to the tapes, talk about it and execute it to the best of our abilities.”
Stephen Curry says he knows patience will be required when dealing with hamstring injury
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Stephen Curry says he knows patience will be required when dealing with hamstring injury
- Stephen Curry sat down after the Golden State Warriors went through their gameday shootaround practice in Minneapolis and quickly announced that he’s feeling great
- Curry is going to be a postseason spectator for at least a few games, his Grade 1 hamstring strain bad enough that it took him out of most of Game 1 of the Warriors’ Western Conference semifinal
Coach Petkovic wary as Algeria seek AFCON resurrection
- The Desert Foxes won the premier football competition in the continent a second time in 2019
- Petkovic admits Algeria are favorites to win a mini-league including Sudan, Burkina Faso and Equatorial Guinea
JOHANNESBURG: Coach Vladimir Petkovic says he will not make promises while trying to resurrect the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) fortunes of Algeria after two disastrous campaigns.
The Desert Foxes won the premier football competition in the continent a second time in 2019 when a second-minute Baghdad Bounedjah goal delivered a 1-0 final victory over Senegal in Cairo.
It was a team teeming with stars, led by Manchester City winger Riyad Mahrez, and the belief was that they would go on to claim more honors.
But those dreams were never realized. Instead, the Foxes were eliminated after the first round of the 2022 and 2024 AFCONs in Cameroon and the Ivory Coast.
Not only did they fail to reach the knockout stages, they were humiliated, unable to win a match in either tournament.
Algeria lost to Equatorial Guinea in Cameroon and to Mauritania, a team that had not won an AFCON match, in the Ivory Coast.
Coach Djamel Belmadi, mastermind behind the 2019 triumph, was jettisoned. In his place came Bosnia & Herzegovina-born Petkovic, who had spent seven years guiding Switzerland.
Algeria have won 15 matches under his control, drawn three and lost two. Those results led Algeria to qualify not only for the 2025 AFCON, but also the 2026 World Cup.
Petkovic admits Algeria, who will play all their Group E matches in Rabat, are favorites to win a mini-league including Sudan, Burkina Faso and Equatorial Guinea.
“We are favorites in our group, and we must accept that responsibility. Our first goal will be to qualify for the second round, then we shall see,” he told the Algerian media.
Many pundits have listed Algeria among a short list of nations capable of going all the way in a tournament that kicks off on December 21 and reaches a climax on January 18.
But Petkovic casts aside talk of being crowned African champions a third time, saying “I never promise anything.”
- ‘Morocco favorites’ -
“What I can assure Algerians is that the team will wear the national team jersey with pride and be courageous.
“Unity is crucial. We must have the support of the entire nation. If we are divided, achieving success will be difficult.”
Mahrez, 34, now with Saudi Pro League outfit and Asian Champions League title-holders Al Ahli, echoed the cautious tone of Petkovic.
“We have to be realistic given what happened to us in the last two AFCON tournaments. We dare not fail again.
“Some observers are including us among the title favorites, but that means nothing. Morocco have to be favorites as they will be playing on home soil, backed by huge, partisan crowds.”
Unable to play at home due to a civil war that erupted in April 2023 between the national army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, Sudan defied the odds to qualify at the expense of Ghana.
Under Ghanaian coach Kwesi Appiah, the Nile Crocodiles took four points off four-time African champions Ghana.
The 64-year-old stressed the importance of a strong mindset, telling reporters that “if you go into a match thinking about the stars in the other team, you have lost it even before the kick-off.
“At the AFCON recovery is a key factor. Players need proper rest, enough sleep, ice baths and massages. They must also limit the amount of time spent using mobile phones.”
A boost for Sudan is the return of veteran forward Mohamed Abdelrahman to a squad that defender Bakhit Khamis captains.
Burkina Faso have been runners-up once and semifinalists twice from 2013 and captain and forward Bertrand Traore will be making a sixth AFCON appearance.
Traore plays for Sunderland and another Premier League striker in the squad of coach Brama Traore is Dango Ouattara, who moved to Brentford from Bournemouth this year.
Equatorial Guinea have never failed to reach the knockout stage in four previous appearances and captain Emilio Nsue was the surprise five-goal leading scorer at the last AFCON.
