Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry missed Saturday night’s 102-100 loss at the Charlotte Hornets because he was “not feeling well,” the team announced during the first quarter. Curry, who went through pregame warm-ups, was scratched just prior to tipoff and replaced in the starting lineup by Mychal Mulder.
“Going through his usual warm-up routine, he just did not feel well at all,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after the contest. “And so he came back in, saw the Charlotte team doctor, went out, tried to warm up and just wasn’t feeling good. And so we made the decision, the training staff and Steph and I, we all made the decision to not play him.
“We’ll see how he’s doing [Sunday]. … There were no [COVID-19] protocols in place. Just him feeling sick.”
Without Curry, the Warriors lost their composure late. A technical foul on forward Draymond Green with 9.3 seconds left in the game — as Golden State held a 100-98 edge — led to two free throws and the eventual winning field goal, all by Hornets guard Terry Rozier, as Charlotte capped the comeback.
Curry, who grew up in the Charlotte area and went to school at Davidson College just outside of the city, mentioned several times in recent days how much he was looking forward to playing at home after missing last season’s game due to a hand injury he suffered earlier in that campaign.
Kerr admitted it was tough for the Warriors to find their footing with Curry being such a late scratch. NBC Sports Bay Area cameras showed Curry walking off the floor just before the game with Warriors director of sports medicine and performance Rick Celebrini.
“Our offense is based on Steph,” Kerr said. “Obviously our pace, everything else. So it took us some time to get our feet on the ground. But once we did, I thought we really competed well and did everything necessary to win the game. We fought, we competed together.”
Curry is averaging 29.9 points, 6.2 assists and 5.4 rebounds per game this season.
Kerr is optimistic Curry will be able to play Tuesday at the New York Knicks.
“Hopefully,” Kerr said. “We’ll see how he’s feeling the next couple of days.”
Golden State has lost back-to-back games and three of the past five.