CLEVELAND — Throughout their run to five straight NBA Finals appearances, the Golden State Warriors remained relatively healthy, at least with regard to their star players, but this season, the injury bug is hitting the Western Conference powerhouse extremely hard.
Already without shooting guard Klay Thompson, who is rehabilitating his left knee following surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals, the Warriors suffered another devastating blow to their title chances.
In Wednesday’s 121-110 loss to the Phoenix Suns at the Chase Center in San Francisco, All-Star point guard Stephen Curry suffered a broken right hand and a timetable for his return “was not immediately known,” according to reports following the game.
The injury occurred on a drive to the basket against Suns small forward Kelly Oubre Jr. early in the third quarter.
As Curry passed Oubre Jr. and dribbled into the free-throw line lane, center Aron Baynes slid into the key in an attempt to draw a charge. Curry and Baynes collided at the hip, and that caused the two-time league Most Valuable Player to lose his balance and fall to the court.
Curry tried to brace himself for the fall, which he seemingly did, only to have Baynes land on his both of Curry’s arms.
Initially, it looked as the left hand took the full weight of Bayne’s fall. However, Curry’s right hand got caught underneath Baynes’ backside, the first point of him to hit the court, causing the break.
Through four games this season, Curry averaged 20.3 points, 6.5 assists and 5.0 rebounds while shooting 40.9 percent from the field, just 24.3 percent from three-point range and 100 percent from the free-throw line.