The result of the injury was a fascinating look into what may lie ahead for the Warriors in their pursuit of the best record in NBA history, the 72-10 Chicago Bulls. The Warriors want this record and they've been pretty adamant about finding the requisite motivation in order to be up for all of these games in a way that does harken back to the insane competitive nature of Michael Jordan. But when you take away that team's M.J., does such a feat become impossible to attain or even approach?
Golden State is currently 31-2, which is still the best start in NBA history. They're still one game ahead of that Bulls team, which was 30-3 after 33 games. To keep up with this pace, the Warriors can't miss Curry for too many games. Per Ben Golliver of Sports Illustrated, the Warriors are now 74-9 in their previous 83 regular-season games in which Curry plays. They need Curry to play if they want to be historical.
Luckily for them, this is a bit of a light week until Friday. They have Sunday off before facing the Charlotte Hornets on Monday at home and the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday in Los Angeles. Then they have Wednesday and Thursday off before a back-to-back with Portland and Sacramento. That's a relatively light schedule until Friday to allow the injury to heal up. Can they get by if Curry misses just one of those games against Charlotte or Los Angeles? What if he misses both?
Draymond Green has stepped up in Curry's absence after a poor showing against Dallas (11 points, nine rebounds, four assists, 4-of-15 shooting). He rebounded against Houston for a 10-point, 11-rebound, 16-assist performance the next night before following that up Saturday night against Denver with 29 points, 17 rebounds, 14 assists, and four steals. While it's not easy for Green to put up these crazy numbers, even though it's his sixth triple-double of the season and second back-to-back triple-double of the season, Green instantly becomes the Warriors' leader on the court when Curry is out.
The problem though is how much focus can they retain and foster when Curry is out? They nearly blew a 26-point lead at home against a Denver team that isn't very good, escaping with an overtime victory. The team has been without Harrison Barnes since November 27 due to an ankle sprain. Leandro Barbosa has missed four straight games with a sprained shoulder. Festus Ezeli has a foot injury.
People don't want to see players get injured, but this is the test the Warriors are facing now, which they avoided last season when they were healthy. That's when they won 67 games and marched to a title. That's when the question of whether or not they were lucky crept up and fueled them to this blistering start to the season. And this is what befalls so many seemingly great teams looking to challenge what the Bulls did in 1995-96.
The grind of the season comes with bumps in the road. Jordan was able to play all 82 games for the Bulls that season, but Scottie Pippen missed five games, Dennis Rodman missed 18 games, and Luc Longley missed 20. Enduring injuries is one thing, but enduring injuries while challenging history seems almost futile.
Curry could be back next game and not miss another contest this season. Or this shin injury might take some time to fully heal, and cause an absence far more times than the Warriors are hoping to see. It's not the end of the world. If things fall apart in this pursuit of the all-time, they can still end up with the best record in basketball and march to a second title. You just don't get to see history challenged all that often and this Warriors team seemed to have the right kind of motivated to keep challenging.
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