Warriors, adrift some more

Bad news about Stephen Curry, but manageable.

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

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Icebound, Willard Metcalf, 1909

Stephen Curry will miss “a few weeks” with his shoulder injury, per Woj. This is horrifying news for the Warriors, for Warriors fans and for fans of watching Stephen Curry play basketball (including in a big game on Christmas Day).

I wrote yesterday that barring a Curry injury that kept him on the shelf for some period of time, we’d learn a lot about the Warriors over the next month. Given the news, I now posit that we aren’t going to learn a bit about the Warriors over the next month. We’re going to be reminded that Curry is one of the most impactful players in the league — whether he’s a top-tier MVP candidate this particular season or not — and that the Warriors’ entire program is built on the back of his excellence.

The Warriors have been dreadful on the road this season and excellent at home. Let’s say “a few weeks” translates to “three weeks.” That would be 10 games: the next four on the road and six at home. Let’s book the four road games as losses. Why? Golden State is 2-13 on the road this season and 0-3 without Curry. The opponents are the Sixers, Raptors, Knicks and Nets. Anything can happen any given night in the NBA, but given how Golden State has looked on the road winning any of those games seems like a tall order.

Losing all four would put the Warriors at 14-19.

Here are the first six opponents in the Warriors’ 8-game homestand that they appear to be facing without Curry: