Golden State Warriors: Will injuries derail the defending NBA champs?

Over the last few weeks, the Golden State Warriors have come down with a slew of key injuries. Should they be concerned heading into the playoffs?

In one of the most pivotal times of the season, the Golden State Warriors have had a string of injuries to its best players. Over the last couple of weeks, the Warriors have seen injuries to Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, and contributing role players.

Steph Curry went down with another ankle injury on March 8th in a game versus the San Antonio Spurs. This is the fourth time this season Curry will have missed time due to a “tweaked” or sprained ankle.

This alone shouldn’t make Warriors fans hit the panic button, however, everyone should be mindful of that ankle heading forward after he returns.

More from Sir Charles In Charge

• LeBron James working to assemble super team for USA Basketball in 2024
• Dillon Brooks proved his value to Houston Rockets in the 2023 FIBA World Cup
• NBA Trade Rumors: 1 Player from each team most likely to be traded in-season
• Golden State Warriors: Buy or sell Chris Paul being a day 1 starter
• Does Christian Wood make the Los Angeles Lakers a legit contender?

Ankle injuries aren’t something new to Steph Curry. He struggled with them the first few years of his career, requiring surgery one year. It seems they have given him problems again this season.

Thankfully this current ankle injury for Curry is not too serious and is apparently more for precautionary rest. It’ll be important he doesn’t go down in the playoffs due to overcompensation, or the Warriors could be in trouble.

On March 20th, the Warriors will re-evaluate his ankle and he will be the earliest possible return for the Warriors.

Klay Thompson is also missing some time due to a fractured thumb he suffered against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Steph Curry’s injury came just two games prior to this.

Klay Thompson’s injury will force him to be out for several games but is also not believed to be serious. He will be re-evaluated on March 22nd.

Even with Steph Curry and Klay Thompson out, the Warriors were still able to hang their hopes on Kevin Durant.

It didn’t last long.

Durant will miss at least 2 weeks with a rib injury. Kevin Durant also suffered his injury against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He initially believed it just to be a bruise, but woke up the next day knowing it was something more.

That wasn’t the case.

Per ESPN, Durant indicated that the Warriors could still come back healthy before the end of the season. About his own injury he made the following comment:

"No concern. I’ve got a couple weeks and I’m just trying to get healthy, and I’m just trying to make sure I’m out there being able to be me on the court,” Durant said. “That’s the most important thing. It’s not great timing-wise, obviously. It’s all about just feeling better when I’m out there playing.”"

How concerned should the Warriors be given their string of injuries?

Key role players have also been out including Andre Iguodala, Patrick McCaw, and Omri Casspi who have all missed time recently.

Due to all these injuries, the Warriors have basically been forced to relinquish the No. 1 seed to the Houston Rockets. Houston has been playing near perfect basketball lately, and the Warriors just couldn’t keep up with all the injuries to their team.

The Warriors certainly didn’t envision losing the 1 seed, but it is not the end of the world. We all know a healthy Warriors team playing at it’s best could probably win in six games against Houston.

However, if it does go to a Game 7, it being in Houston adds to the difficulty of the Warriors being able to move on.

It sure won’t be a cake-walk.

The most important thing for Golden State will be everyone returning before the playoffs start. The Warriors need at least a few games together to get into playoff form before the season ends. It could be crucial for them to have success in reaching the finals for the fourth year in a row.

The Warriors will want to be as healthy as possible for the first round. Regardless of who it is, it won’t be an easy matchup. Golden State’s first-round matchup could be a red-hot Utah team, a Pelicans team who was just the 3 seed a couple weeks ago, or even the San Antonio Spurs who should have Kawhi Leonard back by then.

Must Read: 2018 NBA Mock Draft 3.0: Cavs take a big risk; Trae Young jumps into the top 5

There’s no room to slip up at all with the number of talented teams in the West. The Warriors will need to be at their best to continue their legacy.

The Golden State Warriors are in potential dynasty territory. But dynasties don’t win every other year, they win consecutive years. The Golden State Warriors still have a long playoff road ahead to truly cement themselves as possibly the greatest team ever.