HOUSTON – With a bulky bag of ice wrapped around his right thumb after the Warriors lost 131-116 in Game 5 to the host Rockets on Wednesday night, Steph Curry picked his words carefully as he answered a question about his health.
“It’s something I’m dealing with, and I’ll keep it moving. I’ve got a wrap for a reason,” Curry, 37, said.
That thumb had been the subject of much discussion, despite only being on the floor for 23 minutes, the sixth-fewest of his 151 career playoff games. Curry has been dealing with the nagging injury since December.
After Curry’s jump shots, Rockets defenders made an effort to swipe at his compromised digit while he snapped his wrist. The Warriors’ television broadcast picked up the trend during Game 5, which led to accusations that the Rockets were attempting to injure Curry.
Rockets forward and perennial Warriors nemesis Dillon Brooks did not deny that accusation during his postgame press conference.
“If I had an injured ankle, I would attack that ankle every single time,” Brooks said. “So, whatever they’re saying on the broadcast, they can keep saying it.”
The Warriors will host Brooks’ Rockets in Game 6 on Friday at 6 p.m. Golden State holds a 3-2 lead in the series.
If the Warriors win, they will play Minnesota in the second round. But in the meantime, Golden will need to find a way to deal with a Houston defense that keyed a 76-49 halftime lead on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Warriors coach Steve Kerr believed that, while hitting the hand after the shot is not a foul, the rules should be amended in the offseason.
“Players all over the league are just taking shots at guys’ shooting hands after release because they know it’s not going to be a foul,” Kerr said. “I’m very confident that next year the league will fix it.”
Kerr believed the stakes are dire if nothing changes.
“Because it’s only a matter of time before somebody breaks a thumb or breaks a hand or whatever.” Kerr said, adding, “It’s been happening across the league all year long, and it’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of.”
Curry, the subject of those non-calls, kept things brief when asked whether he believed he was being fouled by the Rockets.
“You don’t think about it. If it’s a foul, they should call it,” Curry said, before reiterating, for emphasis, “If it’s a foul, they should call it.”
Draymond Green acknowledged that “it’s pretty obvious” that defenders are targeting shooters on release, but declined to weigh in on whether or not it should be a foul.
“I’m not one to come to cry to you about what the league should do,” Green said. “I see enough people cry about me, and I lose respect for those people when they cry about me, so I would not allow somebody to lose respect for me over something.”
If there was one advantage to the Warriors’ Game 5 debacle, it was that the team’s older starters played limited minutes. Green and Buddy Hield each saw just 18 minutes on the court, while Jimmy Butler was active for only 23 minutes while he recovers from a pelvic injury sustained during Game 2.
“It’s getting better, and it’s getting there, and you know, it’s another day and some change for recovery and rest,” Butler said. “But that’s also no excuse for how I played, and how we played as a whole.”
With the team playing in just two days, and hoping to avoid a winner-take-all Game 7 in Houston, the Warriors’ superstar was ready to move past the discourse surrounding injuries and Curry’s right thumb.
“If you complain or if you dwell on it, and get distracted by it, then you’re not worried about making shots,” Curry said after going 4 for 12 from the field.