SAN FRANCISCO — The matchup between the first and second-place teams in the Western Conference lost some luster when the 12:30 p.m. official injury report ruled Steph Curry out.
Curry is listed as out for Wednesday night’s game against the Thunder at the Chase Center with bilateral patellofemoral pain in both knees. The medical jargon is also known as runner’s knee, and it means Curry is experiencing pain around or behind both kneecaps.
The Thunder are also shorthanded as Chet Holmgren, Alex Caruso and Jaylin Williams are unavailable.
Golden State (12-5) defeated the Thunder (13-4) in Oklahoma City earlier this month — though that was before they hit their current snag.
“We had a lot more energy a couple weeks ago,” head coach Steve Kerr said after the Warriors’ second-straight collapse.
Curry is averaging 22.4 points, 6.5 assists and 5.4 rebounds per game. Most recently, he scored 28 points in a loss to the Nets, though every shot he took until garbage time came from behind the 3-point arc.
Curry missed three games with an ankle sprain a month ago but the Warriors won all three contests he missed, matching their win total without Curry from last season.
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“Steph is Steph, and we all know that,” Draymond Green said earlier this month. “But, for some reason, when Steph’s out, everybody acts like we can’t play. We’re all so sick of it. And there’s been added motivation to win these three. If you think that hasn’t been mentioned, you’re out of your mind. We’re all NBA players, we’re All-Stars, first-round picks, you name it. And for some reason, every time Steph goes out, everybody acts like, ‘Oh man, the world has collapsed.’”
The Warriors have the highest-scoring bench in the league and believe their depth sets them up to withstand absences over the course of the season. But without Curry and De’Anthony Melton, who’s out for the season with an ACL sprain, the Thunder pose more of a significant challenge than they normally would.
This season, the Warriors are 2.4 points per 100 possessions better with Curry on the floor than when he’s off, per Cleaning The Glass. The disparity isn’t as great as it has been in years past, but the on/off split still registers in the 75th percentile.
The day before Thanksgiving is one of the least productive work days in the United States, with distracted employees eager to get a head-start on the festivities. Because of his knee issues, Curry might be no different this year.
