Warriors have no choice but to wait for Steph Curry

The Warriors lost their third straight game to the Minnesota Timberwolves without Curry, who left their Game 1 win with a Grade 1 hamstring strain. 

After Monday's 117-110 loss, Green told reporters that the team was "not gonna Superman this thing. We don't need Superman," explaining that the team needed to figure out a way to win — and score — with its best player out.

Golden State's offense has struggled to score without the all-time three-point leader on the floor. It has made just 27 threes in 82 attempts in Games 2-4, and even that poor performance is boosted by the Warriors shooting 3-of-5 from deep in garbage time Monday. In that same period, the Timberwolves are 45-of-105, an advantage of six extra threes per game.

Curry's return would do wonders to make up that deficit, but it's probably not possible by Game 5. Even with three days off between Games 5 and 6, Curry being ready by then could be a stretch. Playing with a hamstring strain isn't a measure of pain tolerance; he simply can't move quickly if he hasn't healed enough.

After the game, Curry acknowledged he would likely miss Game 5, telling Marc Spears, "Even if I wanted to be Superman, I couldn't."

The Warriors likely wouldn't push him to play anyway, with the team down 3-1 and Curry two months past his 37th birthday. The rehabilitation time for a hamstring injury can be a matter of months, not days. They're better off letting him heal so they can make one last effort with the trio of Curry, Green and Jimmy Butler, who was reportedly ill Monday night.

But Curry also seems too injured to allow his team to make a reckless decision, even if it wanted to. Three-point shooting may be their kryptonite right now, but the Warriors are the only ones who can rescue themselves from elimination, not Superman.