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By Robert Marvi
Contributing Sports Writer
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The NBA's All-Star break is over, and it is now time for teams to start making their late-season pushes in advance of this spring's playoffs. For the Golden State Warriors, that means increasing their chances of merely reaching the playoffs.
They entered Thursday with a 29-26 record, which put them in eighth place in the Western Conference. They will host the Boston Celtics, who have surprised many people by vaulting to second place in the Eastern Conference without star forward Jayson Tatum, who tore his Achilles tendon in last spring's postseason.
Unfortunately for the Warriors, they will be without Stephen Curry, who will reportedly miss five more games due to a right knee injury that has been described as "runner's knee." An MRI done on his bad knee came back clean, but he continues to experience pain and swelling.
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He had already missed Golden State's last five games prior to the All-Star break, as well as a number of other contests earlier this season. This will be his 18th missed game this season, which means he will be ineligible for all individual postseason awards.
Two seasons ago, the NBA instituted a rule that players must appear in at least 65 regular-season games in order to be eligible for postseason awards. This rule was intended to discourage players from sitting out games due to load management.
This means Curry will not be named to any of the All-NBA teams, as he was in each of the previous five seasons and 11 of the past 12 campaigns.
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He is currently averaging 27.2 points on 46.8% field-goal shooting and 39.1% shooting from 3-point range, 3.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists a game. Even as he approaches his 38th birthday, he remains largely the same player he has been for the past decade-plus.
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This has been a very frustrating season for the Warriors, who had appeared to reopen their championship window last February when they traded for six-time All-Star forward Jimmy Butler and finished the year on an extended hot streak. They have struggled to string together any real momentum this season, and they lost Butler for the duration when he tore his ACL last month.
Their schedule won't do them any favors in the coming days either, as they will play the Denver Nuggets on Sunday and then face the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder in succession soon afterward.
For more on the Warriors and general NBA news, head over to Newsweek Sports.
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