The Golden State Warriors have been falling rapidly in the Western Conference standings in recent weeks due to the long-term injury absence of Stephen Curry, who has not played since before the All-Star break due to a long-term knee injury. The losing streak continued on Tuesday with a home loss to the Chicago Bulls in overtime.
Recently, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr addressed Curry's mental state as his absence continues.
"He's disappointed," Kerr told 95.7 The Game's "Willard & Dibs" on Wednesday, according to Nick Avila of NBC Sports Bay Area. "He wants to be there for his guys. It's obviously an injury that's lasted much longer than anyone anticipated. He's dying to be there, but there's not a lot of it involved.
"We're just following the leadership of the training staff and the advice of Rick Celebrini. We're just trying to give him the best chance to come back and stay healthy and finish the season strong."
The Warriors are currently 32-33 on the season, and if the season ended today they would be in the play-in tournament for the third consecutive year. While the Western Conference landscape makes it seem like falling below the play-in line would be nearly impossible at this point, it's still not a possibility the Warriors would want to flirt with.
Curry was playing some elite basketball for Golden State before the injury, but the team has declined dramatically in his absence, which hasn't been helped by the fact that Jimmy Butler is out for the year with a torn ACL, and trade acquisition Kristaps Porzingis has appeared in only three games so far for the Dubs as he deals with a lingering illness.
The Warriors next face off against the struggling Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday evening.
