Sources: Stephen Curry set to miss at least a week with Grade 1 hamstring strain

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Golden State Warriors expect Stephen Curry to miss at least one week with a Grade 1 left hamstring strain, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania on Wednesday.

An exact return timeline will be based on how Curry responds to rehab with his first career muscle strain, sources said.

RELATED: Warriors take Game 1 from cold-shooting Wolves 99-88 despite Curry's departure with hamstring strain

Curry suffered the injury during the second quarter of the Warriors' 99-88 Game 1 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference semifinals.

He is likely to be out through at least Game 4 on Monday. After that, Game 5 would be on May 14, followed by Game 6 on May 18 and Game 7 on May 20.

Coach Steve Kerr had said after Tuesday's win that, because of the tricky nature of hamstring injuries, he and his staff would operate as if they would not have Curry for at least Thursday's Game 2.

RELATED: Warriors vs. Timberwolves: Everything to know about NBA Western Conference Semifinals

"He's obviously crushed," Kerr said. "But the guys picked him up and played a great game, and obviously we're all concerned about Steph but it's part of the game."

After Curry scored on a driving 14-foot floater with 8:48 remaining in the second quarter, he could be seen grabbing at his left leg. He signaled to the bench to come out but remained in the game for 29 seconds before play was stopped. Curry then walked straight to the locker room, finishing the game with 13 points in 13 minutes.

"I think we all want [No.] 30 back, that is for sure," Jimmy Butler III said Tuesday. "But we want him to do his best for himself, best for our group. Until then, we can hold down the fort. I know we can."

What Curry's recovery could look like

All eyes are on Stephen Curry right now after Tuesday's injury and there is some good and some bad news according to medical experts.

"What the Warriors reported is that he had a Grade 1 strain of his hamstring. A strain is some degree of tearing of the hamstring. We grade them into 3 big groups: Grade 1, which is a microscopic tearing, Grade 2 is partial tearing and Grade 3 is complete tearing. Grade 1 is probably a best-case scenario," said Dr. Nirav Pandya, MD, UCSF Orthopedic Surgeon.

That's the good news, especially because this is Curry's first hamstring injury.

The bad news came from the Warriors confirming that after an MRI, Curry will be "reevaluated in one week," which means he can't play in the next three games of the Western Conference semifinal series.

"He was a little deflated, but he tried not to show it. He was just in the locker room waiting for guys to come in and continuing to show that support," said Warriors forward Draymond Green.

Dr. Pandya said rest will be crucial for Curry's recovery.

"I would recommend that they take all the time they need to get him back, particularly since they won the game yesterday," said Dr. Pandya. "I think that if you go back too quickly, you can take something that may just be 7 to 10 days and make it a 2-3-week period, and you don't want him to have a larger injury just because he is compensating."

We also asked Dr. Pandya how an injury like this can happen.

"Usually, most of the time we imagine the sprinter running down the track and pulling up, or the soccer player, but with him during the gam,e you didn't necessarily see like there was some abnormal movement. In general, when you don't see that it's usually do to a lot of accumulated work over a period of time," said Dr. Pandya. "They played nine games in the past 15 days before the regular season ended and then all these every other day playoff games with a very physical series against Houston, so I think it was just the accumulated wear and tear of playing over a period of time at an advanced age."

Physical therapy to treat any swelling and scar tissue buildup will be key to getting him back. Albert Eng, Director of SOMA Sports & Physio, detailed what that treatment looks like.

"We want to go ahead and break apart a lot of scar tissue that forms. This hamstring is half tendon and half muscle," said Eng.

As for how many physical therapy sessions a day? Eng said Curry will likely do at least three sessions a day as the Warriors try to get him back on the court.

Information from ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk was used in this report.