Stephen Curry out for at least a week with first hamstring strain

Golden State Warriors have suffered a huge blow as Stephen Curry has been ruled out for at least a week after being diagnosed with a Grade 1 hamstring strain. Curry suffered the injury in the second quarter of the opening game of the Western Conference semifinals against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday.

Curry underwent an MRI on Wednesday, and he will be reevaluated in one week, the Warriors said.

“I think you literally just take it a game at a time,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Wednesday. “And we can’t. … I know there’s a [three-day] break between [Games] 5 and 6 and everyone’s saying maybe those three days [perhaps Curry returns then] … we can’t afford to think about that.

“I mean, Steph will be back when he’s back. We just focus on tomorrow’s game and then we go from there.”

Curry is expected to be out for at least the next three games, with only a day gap between the matches. 

“We’re in that room right now talking about how we are going to approach it,” Kerr said. “What the lineups will look like. It’s all part of it. Every year, the playoffs are about adapting whether it is a game plan or an injury or lineup. We just have to adapt. We have done this before, and we are confident we can do it again.”

The Warriors are 9-3 in playoff games without Curry. Kerr said earlier that there used to be a better break between the matches and the Warriors had players like Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant.

“I think the difference at that time, we had an all-time NBA roster,” Kerr said after Tuesday’s contest. “So, those days we were well-equipped to handle the loss of Steph.

“But there is a lesson. I mean, you have to understand what it takes to win a game without your best player. And [Game 1] was a good indication of that.”

The second game of the series will be played on Thursday.