Golden State Warriors star guard Stephen Curry sustained a bruise in the tailbone at the end of the third quarter of Wednesday night’s 108-94 victory against the Rockets in Houston and did not return.
The injury occurred during the final game of the third quarter, after Curry missed an off-balance 3-pointer. His momentum took him off the floor and pushed him toward the uprights by the Rockets’ bench. He seemed to be tripping on the first level of risers and unable to break his fall.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr called the injury “a bit scary,” but said after the game that he doesn’t think Curry will miss much time.
“He says it will be fine in the long run,” Kerr said. ‘But it will certainly disturb him for the next few days. No idea if he will play in Memphis [on Friday]but he seems to feel like it’s going to be fine for the next week or so, but we’ll see … and please don’t take that as meaning that I’m saying he’s going to be gone for a week. He could practice [Thursday] as far as I know, but we’ll give you an update as soon as we get one. “
Kerr said Curry had not taken X-rays after the game and did not expect to undergo additional testing.
“I didn’t see it at first, and when the buzzer sounded I saw everyone get up to see what was going on,” Kerr said. “So it was scary. He told me afterwards that he started kicking back and normally he would actually have fallen back into the fans on the court, but of course there is no one. So he said he took that step expecting to quit and kept going and fell right on his tailbone, on that piece of metal on the sidelines that holds the stands in place. “
Curry immediately grabbed his back in pain and remained on the floor for a few moments after initially trying to get up. He immediately went back to the Warriors’ locker room for examination and was subsequently disfellowshipped.
Warriors forward Draymond Green said he spoke to Curry after the game, and like Kerr said the observatory thought he was going to fall back into the Rockets’ bank.
“Hopefully it won’t be too long,” Green said. “But at the end of the day, the most important thing is his health. When you’re dealing with a coccyx injury, if that’s not right, other things tend to stop and you start using other muscles that you shouldn’t be using. Next guy, but other guys have to keep going, including myself. “
Curry finished the game 7-for-18 from the field, but only 2-for-11 from outside the arc.