Should Stephen Curry sit out the rest of the Warriors' first-round series?
It was the sight that no true basketball fan wanted to see — Warriors guard and surefire back-to-back MVP winner Stephen Curry injured his right ankle in the second quarter of Game 1 of Golden State's first-round playoff series with the Houston Rockets Saturday.
After tweaking his ankle without contact, Curry twice went to the Warriors' locker room Saturday. The Warriors announced that Curry was available to return, but with the Warriors' lead hovering around 20, Warriors coach Steve Kerr opted to keep his All-Star guard on the bench.
Still, Curry, who scored 24 points in only 19 minutes of play, was critical to the Warriors' blowout win, despite only playing 2:47 in the second half.
He didn't score a point in his limited second-half time, but the Warriors were able to coast to a 26-point victory.
After the game, Kerr said that Curry is questionable for Monday's Game 2, and the sliver of doubt should be more than enough for the Warriors to outright bench Curry for the game — and perhaps the entire first-round series.
It was clear after roughly a quarter that the Rockets won't be able to keep up with the Warriors. Perhaps they could steal a game in Houston, but there's a close-to-nil chance that the Rockets take four games off the Warriors.
The Warriors' goal is to defend their title. If not for their pursuit of the NBA-record 73 wins, they would have been resting players in bunches down the stretch — chief among them, Curry.
But that rest, whether it was needed or not, didn't come. The Warriors pushed for the record and got it.
Considering that Curry's ankles are his kryptonite (Curry underwent two surgeries to his right ankle in the 2011-12 season) being overly cautious about this injury could be a backdoor blessing for the Warriors — the MVP could get that rest he missed out on because of the record chase.
At the very least, Curry should be held out of Game 2 Saturday, just to avoid any chance that the not-quite-100-percent ankle is further injured.
Curry said after the game that he can't envision a scenario where he doesn't play in Game 2, but didn't definitively rule out sitting.
It's not like the Warriors need him to beat the Rockets. Yes, Houston outscored the Warriors by one in the second half Saturday, but that had more to do with the Warriors taking the foot off the gas defensively than the Rockets finding a susceptibility.
James Harden only scored 17 points and shot a grand total of zero free throws in Game 1. He was a minus-27 in the game.
Harden doesn't seem interested in doing it — who else on that Rockets team is going to beat the Warriors? Seriously, I'm asking. Michael Beasley?
Certainly, Shaun Livingston and Ian Clark, Curry's backups at the point guard spot, can handle that.
There is a downside to resting Curry — the games will be a bit closer, and that will mean tougher minutes for the other Warriors' stars.
But considering that Curry was a plus-28 in less than 20 minutes of play Saturday, playing Draymond Green and Klay Thompson a few more minutes to ensure that Curry is 100 percent for a series where the Warriors will be pushed is a more-than-fair trade.
