Stephen Curry injury update: Warriors star says avoiding surgery on injured shoulder is ‘big news’

warriors of the golden state star Stephen Curry will be out of the lineup with a left shoulder subluxation (i.e. a partial dislocation), the team announced Thursday. While the Warriors haven’t released an official timeline for his return, Athletic’s Charania Shams reported that Curry will be sidelined for at least two weeks. Curry will not require surgery and is expected to return to the court in about a month. Charania reported during an appearance on Bally Sports.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported that Curry would miss a few weeks.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Curry refused to give a timeline., noting that this is the first time he has suffered the injury. He said he was glad to avoid surgery and doesn’t know if a procedure will eventually be necessary during the offseason.

“From what I know about shoulder injuries and situations like that, any time you can avoid surgery or something like that, that’s great news,” Curry said. “It’s my first time doing it and it usually takes a little longer than if it’s a recurring thing. I just have to trust the plan we have and do my job.”

“rear end [of the recovery] It should be a lot quicker than the front end from what I’ve been told. hard to say [exactly how long I’ll be out] Because it’s the first time I’ve done it. Just knowing that it’s the first time I’ve tried to stay away from even myself mentally trying to predict how long it will be. They’ll let me know.”

Curry added that it was a benefit that he injured his left shoulder instead of his right, since he’s a right-handed shooter.

“Knowing what’s left is definitely lucky in that regard,” Curry said. “Kind of like when I broke my hand. More of a feeling, the confidence that I can still shoot the ball, but I don’t think it will help you recover faster.”

Curry left the Warriors’ 125-119 loss after injuring his shoulder in the third quarter. On the previous play, Curry missed a 3-pointer and the long rebound caused a pacemaker quick rest. As Jalen Smith went to the basket, Curry went for a steal and hurt his shoulder in the process.

Curry immediately grabbed his shoulder. He was in enough pain that the Warriors called a timeout, after which he went to the locker room. The team ruled him out for the remainder of the game, but he still finished with 38 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Golden State coach Steve Kerr told reporters that he would have an MRI on Thursday and that the team would “hope for the best.”

The defending champion Warriors are 10th in the West and 14-15 on the season. Now they will not have their franchise player, who returns to play at the MVP level. To say that this is a setback would be an understatement. Golden State has scored 120.8 points per 100 possessions with Curry on the floor, according to Cleaning The Glass, and has gone a dismal 103 per 100 without him in non-garbage minutes. He has outscored opponents by 8.4 points per 100 possessions with Curry on the floor, and has been outscored 9.8 per 100 without him, according to CTG. He’s always had incredible on-and-off numbers, but this year’s team is particularly top-heavy: It has the worst bench in the league, in terms of aggregate net ratingand their starting eleven have been dominant.

The Warriors have four games left on their road trip — Philadelphia, Toronto, New York and Brooklyn — before hosting the memphis grizzlies on December 25. That Christmas Day game, which has just lost much of its luster, is the start of an eight-game homestand, in which Charlotte, Utah, Portland, Atlanta, Detroit, Orlando and Phoenix will also visit the Chase Center. . If Curry is re-evaluated in exactly two weeks, as The Athletic reported, that would happen between the Utah and Portland games.

With Curry out of the picture, guard Jordan Poole will take on more playmaking responsibility and will presumably remain in the starting lineup when Andrew Wiggins returns from his adductor injury. Poole has been more aggressive, productive and efficient as a starter than a reserve this season, as evidenced by his splits per 36 minutes: 27.7 points (on 58.4 percent shooting), 4.9 assists, 3 .7 turnovers when in the starting lineup. ; 19.4 points (on 52.9 percent true shooting), 6.4 assists, 4.0 turnovers coming off the bench.

Curry’s absence probably also means backup guard Ty Jerome will see regular minutes. Jerome has been on the sidelines of Golden State’s rotation since he signed a two-way contract just before the start of the season.