Certainly, when it comes to the Golden State Warriors‘ postseason history, star guard Stephen Curry has seen it all. He’s been the head honcho of top-seeded teams that were the prohibitive favorites to win the championship, he’s been on teams that were limping into the playoff as a mid-range seed, and he’s had to help the Warriors slip into a series against one of the West’s best teams via the play-in, too.
So now, as the Warriors are in Los Angeles preparing to play the Clippers in Wednesday’s play-in showdown, Curry can take a big-picture view. Sure, he’s been mostly out since the end of January because of a knee injury, and the Warriors in the meantime added star center Kristaps Porzingis at the trade deadline.
But Curry has seen it all in his postseason NBA career, so this situation–the No. 10 seed playing for a group that has barely had time to learn each other–is not causing him any special angst.
Warriors Playing ‘Meaningful’ Basketball
Curry has stated on more than one occasion this season that his goal is to have the Warriors still playing “meaningful basketball” at this time of year. Of course, that opens the question for Curry: Does playing in this play-in game, which could end the season if the Warriors don’t win, count as “meaningful.”
Said Curry: “It’s just a concept of how I would want to frame how we would end this run we have been on. It’s hard to keep this thing together, we all know that. What we’ve done this past decade-plus, it’s been very special, unique. We’ve been to the top of the mountain, fall down, had to climb back up.
“And meaningful basketball is just the way for the core—me, Draymond (Green), Steve (Kerr), when Klay (Thompson) was here—just an idea of trying to keep it together and still be competitive, still try to chase championships. The framework of what we’ve built, knowing that he regular season is kind of an emotional roller coaster, but you’re building toward the meaningful games that matter. And that’s where we are at.”
Stephen Curry: ‘It’s a Different Narrative’
A healthy Warriors roster might actually have a chance to be competitive in this NBA postseason. But in addition to fighting through the knee tendinitis that Curry was battling, the Warriors are also without fellow star Jimmy Butler (torn ACL) and Moses Moody (knee surgery).
The difficulty staying healthy makes it hard to see the Warriors sticking around the postseason very long. Curry is fragile. So is Al Horford, and Kristaps Porzingis. But Curry wants them to keep fighting through that.
“It’s a different narrative than when we came into the season,” Curry said. “It is an opportunity for us to keep our season alive and give ourselves a chance to get into a playoff series. We’ve had every experience from play-in, to being a lower seed and winning homecourt advantage, to being a No. 1 seed. We’ve experienced it all. We’ll tap into whatever you need to to get ready for tomorrow.”
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