It hasn’t been a great couple of weeks for the Golden State Warriors’ knees. With Jimmy Butler sidelined for the rest of the season after tearing his ACL, the Warriors will face the Philadelphia 76ers without Steph Curry and his sore right knee or Jonathan Kuminga and his bruised left knee.
The 76ers have been rounding into health recently, with Joel Embiid back to playing big minutes and putting up big scoring numbers and Paul George regularly logging 30+ minutes. However, the Warriors might miss Embiid since the Sixers will be on a back-to-back after facing the Los Angeles Clippers Monday night. They will definitely miss Paul George, who received a 25-game suspension from the NBA for violating the league’s Anti-Drug program.
As a result, the Warriors will get to see a lot of their old friend Kelly Oubre, Jr., the stylish swingman averaging 14.2 points. He’s been red-hot from three-point range over his past 10 games, which is a shot the Warriors often seem disinclined to defend. The backcourt duo of All-Star Tyrese Maxey and rookie VJ Edgecombe should present a challenge in their speed and athleticism, though they have both been struggling with their shots. In other words, expect them to combine for 12 threes Tuesday night.
Curry is suffering from what the team is calling “runner’s knee.” This author consulted with Dr. WebMD and learned that the condition is known as “patellofemoral pain syndrome” and refers to pain at the front of the knee, sometimes also called “jumper’s knee.” He appeared to hurt it on a drive to the basket for an and-one during the third quarter of the Warriors’ loss to the Detroit Pistons Friday.
The All-Star guard is still considered “day-to-day” (aren’t we all?) but sitting out until Thursday’s road game against the Phoenix Suns would give Curry five full days off. The next possibility would be Saturday’s nationally-televised game against the Los Angeles Lakers. Until the All-Star break, the Warriors get one day off between each of their games.
For Kuminga, this means he won’t take the court again before Thursday’s trade deadline. He’s probably too hurt to play but even if he wasn’t, the Warriors might sit him out just in case a deal develops in the next 72 hours. Or Steve Kerr might prefer to get another extended look at Gui Santos.
Seth “Sethen” Curry remains out with a back injury but is working out on the court and will be re-evaluated Feb. 14.