On the auspicious day of Christmas, the Golden State Warriors might not have expected two heartbreaks. The Chase Center crowd first saw the Bay fall to the Los Angeles Lakers on an Austin Reaves game-winner. Then, in the press conference, Steve Kerr hinted at a haunting possibility. Stephen Curry could spend one of the two games on the sidelines due to injury management.

Kerr didn’t mention which of the two games, but against the Lakers, he mentioned those were ‘hard 36’ minutes. Well, Curry also got the chance to react to the news. Still upset from the loss, he revealed having had no conversations with the medical team. However, he described it to be a “nagging” injury that hasn’t recovered yet, the Chef admit to the possibility proposed by his coach.

“I know when the knee stuff popped up that was part of the conversation. Of course, still dealing with it in some capacity,” he said. Dealing with bilateral knee tendinitis for the first time at the age of 36 requires appropriate caution.

Curry had previously opened the field for selective resting. However, the two-time MVP remained unsure of the plan. Thus far, it’s always been about assessing his conditions prior to and after the games to make a decision. If it were up to him, Stephen Curry would say “I want to play every game”. In all honesty, the Golden State Warriors probably need every Steph minute to stay competitive in the standings. However, while he desires to help the team, the Warriors talisman is also aware of the consequences of ignoring such an ailment this late in his career.

“Look at this day as the games matter is more so just trying to get over the hump to have something to feel good about and you want o be a part of that. So yeah, it’s part of the conversation for sure. But you still have to consider miles I have and where I’m at in my career you got to still be smart,” he told the reporters. Nevertheless, this doesn’t change the fact that the Warriors will have a huge void to fill in their star player’s absence.

The worst time for the Warriors to have a Stephen Curry absence

A few weeks ago, the Warriors were one of the top teams in the East thriving from their well-balanced offense. Kerr’s longer rotations worked like a charm and teams found it hard to cope with the variety of combinations. However, now that they have, the Bay has been backed into a corner. Now, the team is striving to stitch together a streak of wins.

Over the last 14 games, the Warriors have lost 11. Tonight, against the Los Angeles Lakers, the team couldn’t turn around a marginal deficit. The closest they came was when Stephen Curry exploded for 17 points in the fourth quarter and tied the game. Without that subconscious burst, the Bay’s offense wasn’t delivering. And the Lakers were without Anthony Davis.

Now, with a day of rest in hand before the back-to-back, Stephen Curry can garner sometime to recover well from tonight’s high-octane game against his fabled rival, LeBron James. But the following two challenges aren’t getting any easier. Either he can rest against the Clippers, who run a fast-paced and mobile offense with James Harden at the helm.

The other choice is to rest against the Phoenix Suns, led by his former teammate Kevin Durant, and a team that has showcased great defensive strides. In either case, the Warriors haven’t won against either of the teams this season. And now with a chance of potentially falling below .500 for the first time this season, the front office has a huge decision to make.

Thus far, the Warriors have won four of the five games Stephen Curry has missed. But with a new-looking lineup and their chemistry distorted, the back-to-backs can’t be approached with the same confidence. With genuine conference threats lined up for the next two games, do you think the Warriors will consider resting Curry for some other game or is it better to do it within that span? Let us know what you think in the comments below.