Steve Kerr more concerned about getting Steph Curry healthy than No. 1 seed

March 9, 2018

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Stephen Curry’s injured right ankle continues to be a concern for the Golden State Warriors, and head coach Steve Kerr says addressing the issue is the team’s top priority heading into the postseason.

Curry left Thursday night’s win over the San Antonio Spurs early in the first quarter with what the Warriors described as a “tweak” to his troublesome ankle. The two-time MVP originally suffered the injury on Dec. 4 and sat out 11 games, but Thursday marked the fourth time he has had a known issue with it. Now, Curry will miss at least Golden State’s next two games and stay in Oakland while the Warriors travel to Portland and Minnesota.

By managing to hold off the Spurs without Curry, the Warriors won their seventh straight game and are now a half-game behind the Houston Rockets for the top seed in the Western Conference. However, Kerr insists Curry is not going to be rushed back for the sake of chasing the No. 1 seed.

“I’m not thinking about the No. 1 seed,” Kerr said, per Mark Medina of the San Jose Mercury News. “I’m thinking about our health and we’ll get Steph healthy. We’ve proven we can win without him.”

Fortunately, the Warriors are the most talented team in the NBA. They can afford to let Curry recover without losing much ground. And, as Draymond Green put it, you have to win road games to win a championship no matter what.

“If you’re going to win, you have to go on the road anyway. We’re not worried about that,” Green said. “Who doesn’t want to be the No. 1 seed? If I sat down here and said, ‘We don’t care; we don’t want to be the No. 1 seed,’ I’d be lying to you. But it’s not something we’re worried about. It’s also not something where we’re going to say, ‘Steph is out, it’s over. We can’t do it.’ No, next man up.”

It was nearly two months ago that Warriors general manager Bob Meyers made some optimistic remarks about Curry’s ankle, but it’s clear Curry still isn’t 100 percent. Golden State may need to sacrifice the No. 1 seed in order to get him there.