Stephen Curry's injury means the NBA playoffs are wide open
Donatas Motiejunas tripped over James Harden's foot on one of the Houston Rocket's many fumbled offensive possessions in Game 4. Steph Curry slipped on Motiejunas' sweat streak, turned out his left ankle, and both his legs darted in directions they were never meant to.
Curry had just returned from an ankle injury that saw him sit out Games 2 and 3, and given how dire he is to the Warriors' repeat bid, this wasn't unlike watching a priceless faberge egg roll off of an eye-level bookshelf.
Warriors' Stephen Curry limps off at halftime of Game 4 vs. Rockets following awkward fall pic.twitter.com/sOmcve3t4r
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) April 24, 2016
As Curry rolled over and grabbed his right knee and Twitter orthopedists attempted their diagnoses, I made my own even-handed assessments: Cancel everything. Ban courts. Ban sweat. Ban slipping. While we're at it, ban falling, ankles, knees, and ligaments too. Ban it all. Replace all real-life games with video game exhibition matches on the lowest difficulty with the "injuries" setting switched off.
But once the calm set in, so too did reality: the playoffs are wide open now. The statement released from the Warriors on Monday confirmed it.
RT @WarriorsPR: Stephen Curry update pic.twitter.com/FRrusv7xNy
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) April 25, 2016
Curry is out with an MCL sprain and will be re-evaluated in two weeks, which reads as "at least" two weeks, meaning "possibly the entire second round." I wrote about the possibility of the Warriors going a perfect 16-0 on the way to their second consecutive title, and up until this weekend, at least the second part of that seemed a foregone conclusion. But now? Not so much.
The Spurs are odds-on favorites to get Tim Duncan's sixth ring, and with good reason. First of all, they've Been There before. And they just bounced the Memphis Grizzlies in four straight, leaving them ample time to rest, recover, and readjust. Though they were eclipsed by the now-greatest regular season performance of all time, the Spurs were nipping at the Warriors' heels all year, and are still the same team. Gregg Popovich is still Gregg Popovich, and Kawhi Leonard still has bulldozer blades for arms.
Still, the Spurs aren't a sure thing. In a parallel universe where people with good assets make good decisions, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook could trap and fastbreak them to death to finish what the Thunder started back in 2012. Durant would get a ring, we could put all these free agency rumors to bed, and all would be well in Oklahoma City. But, you know; Billy Donovan.
Barring the Clippers Clippers-ing and finding a way to lose to the Portland Trail Blazers in six, Chris Paul could, at long last, make it to the conference finals. The Clippers found a way to stifle the NBA's second-best backcourt (Damian Lillard hitting them up for 32 in Game 3 notwithstanding). They got Blake Griffin back (mostly). Closing out a Curry-less Warriors in the second round isn't totally out of the question. What's more, Paul beat the Spurs in seven games hobbling on one leg last season.
There's also this LeBron James guy who could finally get the chip he went back home to Akron for after being thwarted by Curry and the Warriors in last year's finals. The only problem is that he'll probably have to go through Popovich and the Spurs to do it, which has worked exactly once in three finals meetings.
Just over a week ago, the playoffs were a one or two horse race. The Warriors' hegemony answered pretty much every question. But with Curry injured, all of those questions are now back open for debate. Everything's in bounds now. It's all happening.
