Curry out for at least two weeks with oblique tear as Warriors' winning run ends

Stephen Curry has an oblique abdominal tear and will be re-evaluated in two weeks, the Golden State Warriors announced on Thursday 12 November, according to Reuters. It removes the team's leading scorer at the moment their eight-game winning streak came to an end.

Curry was hurt during Golden State's 115-108 loss to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday 11 November. He exited with 6:25 remaining in the first quarter, Reuters reported, having made one 3-pointer. Those were his only points of the game.

An MRI after he left the game revealed the tear, according to NBC Sports Bay Area, which reported that his absence will last for at least the next six games.

Kerr's concern

Steve Kerr's words, quoted by Sportsnet, made clear how the injury was received on the Warriors bench.

"He said he tweaked something in his abdominal area and said he's never done it before," Kerr said.

"I mean, concern is high, but I have no idea the extent of the injury."

The extent is now known, and the numbers explain the worry. Curry entered the Houston game averaging 30.6 points per game, according to Sportsnet, and had been Golden State's leading scorer in six of the team's previous eight games.

NBC Sports Bay Area reported that he was shooting 50.3 percent from the field, 45.7 percent from three-point range and 98.7 percent from the free-throw line, in his 18th season and at the age of 38.

There is also recent history. The same outlet noted that Golden State went 9-18 while Curry missed 27 games the previous season with runner's knee.

How Houston ended the streak

The Warriors had opened the season 0-3 and then won eight in a row. Houston stopped that run, with Kevin Durant scoring 20 points and Alperen Sengun finishing one assist short of a triple-double with 19 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists, per Sportsnet.

Golden State stayed in the game without Curry. Yaxel Lendeborg led them with 25 points and 10 rebounds, and Brandin Podziemski added 22.

Still, 108 points was well below the 120.4 per game the Warriors had been averaging before Wednesday 11 November, according to Sportsnet. That gap is the simplest measure of what Curry's absence costs them.

The defeat left Golden State 8-4 and in sixth place in the Western Conference, United Press International reported.

Who runs the offence now

The more awkward question is who handles the ball. NBC Sports Bay Area wrote that Golden State does not have an ideal point guard behind Curry, and identified Draymond Green, Lendeborg, De'Anthony Melton and Podziemski as players who could share those duties while he is out.

That points to a committee approach rather than a like-for-like replacement. Lendeborg and Podziemski showed against Houston that they can carry scoring; splitting the playmaking between four players over at least six games is a different test.

The timing is unkind too. Golden State was scheduled to visit San Antonio on Friday 13 November as part of a five-game road trip, so the first stretch without Curry comes away from home.

Houston, meanwhile, host the Utah Jazz at 01:30 UTC on Saturday 14 November before travelling to face the Washington Wizards at 00:00 UTC on Monday 16 November.

For the Warriors, the next fixed point is Curry's re-evaluation, due two weeks on from the announcement of Thursday 12 November.