Warriors will need to play “perfect basketball” if Steph Curry misses time

SAN FRANCISCO – Draymond Green was on the bench when Jonathan Mogbo crashed into his airborne teammate Steph Curry, but the Warriors forward’s ear still picked up the sickening “thud” created when the franchise’s greatest player hit the ground late in the third quarter. 

“He hit that ground hard, and you could hear it,” Green told media following Thursday’s 117-114 victory over the visiting Raptors. “Crazy. Obviously, a very scary moment for us and for him. Hopefully, he’s good.”

Curry was later diagnosed with a pelvic contusion and was ruled out for the rest of the game. 

Coach Steve Kerr said Curry underwent an MRI Thursday night, and the team is hopeful he will not miss much, if any, time as the Warriors embark on a six-game road trip starting in Atlanta on Saturday. The length of his absence will be determined in consultation with head trainer Rick Celebrini.

“He went down to the training room with Rick, and Steph thought he’d be OK to come back in, and the decision was made not to risk it,” Kerr said. 

Should Curry be out for an extended period, the Warriors can rely on at least one player to carry the offense as the team sits in sixth place in the Western Conference with a 41-29 record. 

Jimmy Butler, who had a 16-point, 11-rebound and 12-assist triple-double against Toronto, ratcheted up his scoring aggression once Curry left. He also skied for a clutch block, later joking that his knees were aching after that show of athleticism. 

“He understands the situation, and he wants the ball. He asks for it in different areas and attacks,” Kerr said.

But even Butler, who has made a career of taking offensively challenged teams far beyond their expectations, said there’s no chance the Warriors can replace Curry’s production. 

When Curry is on the court, the team has an offensive rating of 115.1, good for 10th in the league. When he is on the bench, that rating craters to 107.5, which would be the third-worst in the NBA. 

“Whether he’s with us or whether he’s not, and hopefully he is, that’s just more perfect basketball we’re going to have to play,” Butler said. “We can’t afford to turn the ball over, we can’t afford to foul, because we don’t have the one individual that can automatically get us back into the game.”

Green agreed. 

“The margin of error goes way down when he’s not out there,” Green said. “We’ve got to understand that and act accordingly.”

With the team embarking on its last long trip of the season, the Warriors will need players beyond Butler to step up their production if Curry misses significant time. 

Curry has played in 60 of the team’s 70 games, and has also battled hip, ankle, knee, back and thumb injuries this season.

“We just need them to be who they are, to be a master in your role, and I think everybody’s doing a great job with that,” Green said. “No one person in the NBA, not just on our team, but no one person in the NBA is going to be Steph Curry. So we’ve got to collectively try to pick up the slack. ”

That collective will include guards Moses Moody and Brandin Podziemski, forward Jonathan Kuminga and center Quinten Post. The latter three combined for 49 against Toronto, but Moody also got a shoutout from Green despite not scoring a single point.

“Moses played 28 minutes and couldn’t make a shot. That says a lot about the trust that coaches have in him, and he’s earned it,” Green said. 

The Warriors will have what should be an easy slate of games to start the trip, with their first four opponents all under-.500. 

Those opponents, somewhat predictably, are not the staunchest of defensive units. Of those four, only Miami is in the upper half of the league when it comes to defensive rating. 

New Orleans and San Antonio are both in the bottom six. 

But regardless of whether Curry suits up, the Warriors expect to get every team’s best shot. 

“We’re the Golden State Warriors, that’s dominated this league for the last 10 years,” Green said. “Everybody is going to have their best game. You’ve got guys in the league now who have watched this team growing up for years, and they are ecstatic when they’re on the floor playing against us.”