Curry can only watch again as Warriors fade out of playoffs without injured star

MINNEAPOLIS — The Golden State Warriors revealed a glimmer of hope before their elimination game in Minnesota with the announcement that Stephen Curry had been cleared for shooting drills and light on-court workouts, raising the possibility his strained left hamstring could heal in time for him to play in the series.

The Timberwolves quickly put an end to that, closing out the Western Conference semifinal series with a 121-110 victory Wednesday night.

All Curry could do was watch, the four-time NBA champion and league’s career leading 3-point shooter relegated to wincing from the bench while the Wolves shredded an exhausted Warriors defense with 63% shooting.

The Warriors said earlier in the day that Curry was “making good progress” in his recovery from the injury suffered in the opener of the second-round series. With a three-day break before the scheduled Game 6, Curry would’ve have had extra time to heal, but his fourth consecutive absence was simply too much to overcome for this Warriors team that was already thin on consistent scoring.

“Injuries are part of the playoffs. I learned a long time ago the playoffs are really about health and then just guys stepping up and making some big shots, big plays in key games,” said coach Steve Kerr, who embraced veterans Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green on the court after the game. “That’s what decides every series. We’ve been on both ends of that. It’s just part of it, so there’s no sense in dwelling on it.”

The Warriors lost four straight games in the same postseason for the first time since 1972.

“We definitely missed Steph. That obviously goes without saying. But I’m not going to come up here and harp on Steph not being here, make it like their win is less than what it is,” Green said. “They’re moving on. Congratulations to those guys. They beat us regardless.”

Curry’s first career hamstring strain, one of several injuries that have waylaid star players during these NBA playoffs, made it predictably harder for the Warriors to space their offence and generate scoring. They averaged 17 turnovers per game in the series and shot only 34 per cent from 3-point range.

“A tremendous loss for Golden State, no doubt, a tremendous loss for the series. I’m sure it would’ve been quite different if Steph would’ve been able to play,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. ‘But our guys took care of business, and that’s not something that we’ve always done. I thought we had a bunch of business-like approaches in this series and took advantage of something that happened and made the best of it. We don’t need to apologize for it. We just went out and did it.”

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