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The Golden State Warriors' season came to a disappointing end in the second round of the playoffs, and Stephen Curry could do nothing to change the team's fortunes.
Golden State lost in five games to the Minnesota Timberwolves, and Curry played less than one full game in the series as a result of a hamstring strain he suffered during a Game 1 victory. The win would prove to be the Warriors' only in the series, as Curry, who reportedly may have been able to return if the series went six or seven games, was sidelined for the rest of the round and Golden State lost four consecutive games, including two at home.
While everyone expressed their disappointment that Curry could not be on the court to alter how the series went, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is pointing his finger at the playoff schedule as the culprit for Curry's hamstring strain, a first for the future Hall of Famer.
“It’s of Kerr’s belief the schedule was a significant factor to blame,” Yahoo! Sports' Tom Haberstroh wrote. “It was Curry’s third playoff game in five days, with travel in between all three games. With the season on the brink, Kerr leaned on the two-time MVP for 42 minutes in Game 6 in San Francisco and a game-high 46 minutes in Game 7 in Houston. And then they traveled again, jetting up to Minnesota.”
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Kerr said he asked Rick Celebrini, the Warriors' director of sports medicine, if Curry's injury had “anything to do” with playing all but two minutes in Game 7 shortly before the series opener vs. the Timberwolves. Celebrini responded emphatically.
“One hundred percent,” Kerr remembers Celebrini telling him, via Haberstroh. “If he had an extra day or two … we can’t prove this, but I have no doubt based on our understanding of the scientific literature that the hamstring injury was the result of inadequate recovery and fatigue.”
Unfortunately, Curry did not get the requisite recovery time, and that hamstring injury may have cost the Warriors a trip to the Western Conference Finals.
Golden State will have another opportunity to make a playoff run next season, which should be its first full year with Jimmy Butler after acquiring him from the Miami Heat at the trade deadline.
