Stephen Curry remains questionable for Game 3 against the Houston Rockets on Thursday, and will likely be a game-time decision for the Golden State Warriors, who are up two games to none in their first-round series of the NBA playoffs.
With a long road to the Larry O'Brien Trophy ahead, should the Warriors rest the reigning MVP for the remainder of the first round?
Fact
In their 115-106 win over the Rockets in Game 2, the Warriors showed they can get the job done sans Curry. The teams stars (Klay Thompson, Draymond Green) and role players (Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston) stepped up with the game hanging in the balance, giving the team a 2-0 series edge.
If Curry isn't 100 percent, why risk injuring him against a team that is already on the ropes? Particularly a team like the Rockets, a clearly inferior group that has gone 1-13 against Golden State over the past two seasons. The Warriors will need their best player at full strength for potential matchups with the Los Angeles Clippers, San Antonio Spurs and Cleveland Cavaliers.
Fiction
If Curry is close to feeling like himself, which he says he is, there's no logic in sitting him out for the entire series. The Warriors take pride in keeping all of their players well-rested, and no Curry means more minutes for everyone else -- especially Green and Thompson.
Missing Game 3 is one thing, but another full week on the sidelines could mess with Curry's flow and the Warriors' on-court chemistry. Most importantly, resting Curry risks extending the series, preventing the Warriors from getting much-needed days off before a second-round series against much stiffer competition, likely the Clippers.
Verdict
There's no perfect answer to this dilemma, and it really shouldn't matter too much either way. The Warriors will be able to beat the Rockets in four to five games without Curry, while getting him back would almost guarantee a sweep. Given all of the moving parts, though, I'm going to have to side with fiction here. A best-case scenario is Steph playing in at least one game before the series is up.