Warriors News: Steph Curry's Finger Injury 'Will Hurt Until I Have Time to Rest'

For most, playing through injury means just getting by. 

For Stephen Curry, playing with a dislocated left middle finger means scoring a career-high 23 points in the fourth quarter of Friday night's Game 6 to close out the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference Semifinals.

"It's a lot of experimenting," the Warriors All-Star point guard told the Mercury News' Mark Medina about his ailing finger. "A lot of it will hurt until I have time to rest. I'll continue to figure out how to make the ball feel comfortable in my hands."

Curry experimented throughout a scoreless first half in Game 6 and ultimately found his groove with 33 second-half points.

"There is no quick fix to what he's dealing with," Warriors assistant coach Bruce Fraser admitted to Medina. "We haven't figured out what's best."

For Curry, though, Friday night set the table for what he deemed "the best 18 minutes of my career," per Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes.  

As for rest, there's none of that in sight for Curry and the Warriors. They will make their fifth consecutive Western Conference Finals appearance beginning Tuesday against either the Denver Nuggets or Portland Trail Blazers.

Golden State is trying to win its third consecutive championship and will need not only Curry at his best but also Kevin Durant, who suffered a strained calf in Game 5 and will be re-evaluated next week. 

"If we want to get this three-peat, we desperately need [Durant] back," Klay Thompson told reporters after Game 6 (h/t ESPN). "He's our best player, so we dearly miss him, and we'll hold it down while he's out. But it's not the same without him. Far from it."

Durant has been named the NBA Finals MVP the last two years, and before straining his calf, the 30-year-old was averaging 34.2 points per game this postseason. 

While having to navigate ailments in the playoffs is new territory for Durant, Curry dealt with a nagging right ankle injury throughout the Warriors' 2017-18 championship run. During the 2015-16 playoffs, he sprained his left knee and missed several games during both the first round and conference semifinals. Considering the Warriors lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Finals that year, Golden State will be hoping Curry's finger injury will not cause him to miss time this deep into the postseason.