Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry left the Warriors’ 119-113 victory over the Dallas Mavericks at the end of the third quarter after suffering an apparent left knee injury.
Curry sustained the injury with 2:01 left in the third quarter after his left knee collided with Dallas’ McKinley Wright IV’s knee while Curry was defending him. They examined him throughout the timeout, and as players returned to the court to resume play, Curry limped back to the locker room. Curry finished his night with 21 points in 7-of-11 shooting and seven assists.
Two nights prior, Curry banged that same knee in the second half of Golden State’s game against the Denver Nuggets. Kerr said he isn’t sure if Curry’s injury on Saturday night is related to or impacted by that.
Before Curry’s night ended, Kerr had planned on trying to cut down Curry’s minute load because of a concern over how much he and Draymond Green have been playing. Kerr took Curry and Green out of the first quarter a bit earlier than usual and kept them in the second quarter longer to try and keep their minutes lower.
In the first half, Golden State scored 36 points in the paint — nearly half of their points at the time, and tied for their second-most paint points in a half this season. The Warriors were up 20 when Curry left the game, but the Mavericks cut the game to five with just over 90 seconds to go. “When the game is going down the stretch, it’s hard for Steve to get a call in every time, you’re under pressure, it’s intense, you’re in the game, you’re not really focused on what’s coming from the sidelines.