Stephen Curry sits out loss to Clippers after tweaking right ankle

ByChris Haynes ESPN logo
Thursday, January 11, 2018

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry sat out Wednesday's 125-106 loss to theLA Clippers with a sprained right ankle.

Curry slipped and fell to the hardwood during the latter portion of shootaround Wednesday morning and was evaluated in the locker rrom.

"I don't think it's serious,'' said Warriors coach Steve Kerr of Curry's injury before the game.

No MRI or X-rays were scheduled though Curry was sore and the Warriors won't take any chances.

"I didn't see anything,'' Kerr added. "We just had a normal shootaround and he was in his usual game-day routine with Q [Bruce Fraser] and he just rolled his ankle somehow,'' Kerr said. "Just kind of a fluke thing, kind of caught us off guard, but obviously he won't play.''

Curry had played in five consecutive games since returning from a similar injury. The two-time MVP is averaging 35.2 points and shooting 57 percent from the field in that span, draining 33 of 62 3-pointers. The Warriors had gone 5-0 in those games.

Warriors forwardKevin Durant returned Wednesday after missing three games with a strained right calf -- scoring 40 points to become second-youngest player (LeBron James) to reach 20,000 career points.

GuardKlay Thompson also sat out for defending champion Golden State as a scheduled rest day that Kerr and the training staff decided he needed after playing all 41 games so far. Athletic trainer Chelsea Lane had approached Kerr several days ago to suggest Thompson get a break.

"It just felt like the right day going into this road trip,'' Kerr said. "So, once Steph got hurt, what am I going to call Klay and say, 'Yeah, I changed my mind?' Obviously if this were a different situation we might consider that, but we're giving Klay a day off for a reason. He needs it. So I didn't feel comfortable changing my mind and calling him and saying, 'Hey, can you play after all?' So we'll have to make do. It'll make for a much more difficult challenge for sure.''

Kerr said he's hopeful Curry's tweaked ankle will heal up in the next couple of days without him missing significant time again.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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