The Golden State Warriors will go into Game 4 of their series against the Minnesota Timberwolves without Stephen Curry. They made Game 3 close without him, but it’s clear how much they miss him.
They’ll need Curry to have any chance of turning their fortunes around in this series. Will the Warriors star be back for Game 4? Here’s what we know.
Latest on Stephen Curry’s Status For Game 4
On May 7, the Warriors’ PR team revealed that Curry would be re-evaluated in a week following his hamstring injury, meaning he’ll be back on the 14th at the earliest.
That could be bad news for the Warriors, as even if Curry returns, they could go back to Minnesota down 3-1. There’s no telling if that will be the case, but going into Game 4 without him will make it a tall task to even this series.
It’s an unfair twist of fate that Curry gets sidetracked by an unfortunate injury in what could be Golden State’s last hurrah this season, but that’s the risk of trying to win a title with older players. Even the best players, no matter how good they still are, become more susceptible to injury as they reach their late 30s.
Curry proved that he is no exception to this. The Warriors still have some firepower and even made things interesting in Game 3, but the Timberwolves proved that full health and star power win out. With Curry out for the time being, Minnesota has a strong edge in overall talent.
That’s why Game 4 is the most pivotal game of the season for Golden State. A 3-1 scoreline is a vast hole that not many teams have managed to dig themselves out of. It can be even worse if the team not only goes down 3-1 but also gets humiliated in the fourth game like the Cleveland Cavaliers did in their current playoff series.
Other Warriors Players Need To Step Up
That’s why multiple Warriors must step up. Buddy Hield did just that when Curry went down, but he hasn’t had the same shooting luck since then. Jimmy Butler will have to take the wheel going forward until Curry returns.
Draymond Green has been doing his job, but he can only do so much offensively. The Warriors rolled the dice on Jonathan Kuminga in Game 3, and he rewarded their faith, but they still came up short.
The Timberwolves have made it clear they’ll exploit the Curry-less Warriors for as much as possible. It’s unfair that the Warriors must do this, but they must make the proper adjustments to even this series.
