Warriors Beat Rockets 121-94 In Game 4, But Lose Steph Curry Again

Game 4 of the Golden State Warriors’ first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets on Sunday afternoon was a basketball mudslide filled with players’ bodies hitting the floor at every turn.

Warriors Beat Rockets 121-94 In Game 4, But Lose Steph Curry Again

Warriors star guard Stephen Curry got the worst of it. Following his return from a right ankle sprain in Game 1 that forced him out of the previous two games, Curry injured his right knee on the final play of the first half on Sunday, seemingly slipping on a wet spot while defending the Rockets’ Trevor Ariza.

The Warriors were forced to play the remainder of the game without him, edging out to a 121-94 road victory over the Rockets that boosted their first-round best-of-seven playoff series lead to 3-1.

Golden State assessed the injury as a sprain, but head coach Steve Kerr stated Curry would have a magnetic resonance imaging test Monday ahead of Game 5 in Oakland, California on Wednesday night. Curry’s injury cast a pall on the Warriors’ locker room, as the team realized its pursuit of another championship would now automatically be made more challenging.

“The one thing we all hate in life is uncertainty,” said the Warriors’ Draymond Green, who had 18 points and eight rebounds. “Whether that’s in a relationship, whether that’s in school, whether that’s knowing what’s being cooked — we hate uncertainty in life as humans. So the uncertainty with him of not knowing what’s going on — like, obviously, ‘Oh, he sprained his knee.’ But that’s what we think. That’s not what we know until he gets it scanned tomorrow.”

Curry struggled in just 19 minutes of playing time, racking up six points and five assists while shooting 2 of 9 from the field. He also committed five turnovers. In the final seconds of the first half, a series of unfortunate events occurred: the Rockets’ Donatas Motiejunas tripped and fell, leaving a slick spot on the court, and Curry had the misfortune of wading into it as he defended Ariza. Shortly before this, the Warriors’ Andre Iguodala rolled onto his stomach after a hard fall.

Just before the start of the second half, Curry limped to the bench and tried to assure Kerr that he felt well enough to play. Kerr asked him to be honest.

“He just put his head down,” Kerr said.

The game was tied at the half, and the Warriors dominated the second half and set a new NBA record for most 3-pointers made in a single playoff game. After Curry was forced to sit out, Green and shooting guard Klay Thompson–the Warriors’ other two All-Stars–took over the game, combining for 25 points in the third quarter on 9-for-14 shooting and outscoring the Rockets 41-20 in that same quarter. Thompson finished with 23 points, and Iguodala had 22.

“It looked like his conditioning was fine,” Kerr said about Curry. “He just couldn’t get his rhythm, and I thought he was trying to do too much.”

The Rockets’ Patrick Beverley also made himself a nuisance for the Warriors, swatting at shots after the whistle, barking at Iguodala, breathing on Curry.

However, Beverley left the game with a strained right leg in the second quarter, shortly before Curry.

“I just feel so bad for him,” Kerr said about his star player.

HOUSTON, TX – APRIL 24: Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors looks to drive on James Harden #13 of the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center on April 24, 2016 in Houston, Texas.