Warriors’ Curry to miss at least three weeks

Stephen Curry looks on during the NBA All-Star Game 2018 at Staples Center on February 18, 2018, in Los Angeles, California. AFP

LOS ANGELES, United States — Golden State All-Star guard Stephen Curry has a grade two sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his left knee and will be sidelined three weeks, the NBA champions said Saturday.

Curry sprained his knee on Friday night in his first contest back after a six-game absence with a sprained right ankle.

A return in three weeks could see him back in action around the start of the playoffs, when the Warriors will be chasing a fourth straight appearance in the NBA Finals.

“It is kind of a strange cruel twist of fate,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said of Curry’s latest injury, which just adds to the woes for the beat-up Warriors.

Golden State were already without Kevin Durant, who suffered a rib-cartilage injury last week. Curry’s backcourt sidekick, Klay Thompson, is rehabilitating a fractured right thumb, and Draymond Green suffered a pelvic contusion in the Warriors’ loss Monday at San Antonio.

Curry had scored 29 points when he was hurt in the third quarter of the Warriors’ win over the Atlanta Hawks.

Teammate JaVale McGee had tried to block a shot and came down hard, appearing to take Curry’s leg out from under him.

Curry frowned as he hobbled to the bench with 3:09 left in the quarter. He sat and put his head down before going to the locker room.

“Getting close to post-season, you don’t want to see nothing like that,” teammate Nick Young said. /cbb