Stephen Curry likely out at least one week with Grade 1 hamstring strain

Stephen Curry has been diagnosed with a Grade 1 left hamstring strain, according to Shams Charania of ESPN, who reports that the Warriors star will be ruled out for Game 2 of the team’s second-round playoff series vs. Minnesota.

Curry injured his hamstring in the second quarter of Game 1 on Tuesday and was forced to miss the rest of the contest.

Although Curry has a long history of knee and ankle issues, Charania observes that he has never strained a hamstring. That means this will be the first time he goes through rehab for this specific injury, creating uncertainty about how long his recovery will take.

The good news is that a Grade 1 strain is considered mild. The bad news is that it typically sidelines a player for at least one week, and Charania confirms that Golden State is preparing for Curry to miss at least the next seven days.

Based on data compiled by Jeff Stotts of In Street Clothes, the average time lost for a confirmed Grade 1 strain is approximately 10 days. While Curry will undoubtedly attempt to beat that recovery timeline and miss as few games as possible, the Warriors will have to be wary about the risk of re-injury if he comes back too soon.

Game 5 of the series will be played on Wednesday, May 14, one week from Wednesday and eight days after Curry sustained his injury. The two teams will have three full days off before Game 6 (if necessary) on May 18.

As we detailed earlier today, guards Gary Payton II (16:40) and Pat Spencer (10:33) played big second-half minutes in Game 1 with Curry unavailable. The Warriors also leaned more heavily on sharpshooter Buddy Hield, whose 21:48 of playing time in the second half was a team-high.