Curry injures hamstring; Game 2 status in doubt

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Golden State Warriors are preparing as if they will be without superstar Stephen Curry for the next game of their series against the Minnesota Timberwolves after the point guard left Game 1 with a left hamstring strain.

Curry exited the visitor's locker room at the Target Center with a limp late Tuesday night following Golden State's surprising 99-88 win over Minnesota.

Curry will undergo an MRI on Wednesday and is considered day-to-day by the team. Head coach Steve Kerr admitted that because of the tricky nature of hamstring injuries, he and his staff will game plan and operate as if they will not have their franchise star for Thursday's Game 2.

"We don't know yet," Kerr said. "But with a hamstring, it's hard to imagine that he would play Thursday."

After Curry scored on a driving 14-foot floater with 8:48 remaining in the second quarter, Curry could be seen grabbing at his leg. He signaled to the bench to come out and remained in the game for 29 seconds before play was stopped. Curry then immediately walked straight off the floor and to the locker room. Draymond Green said Curry told him he would be right back but the team played on without him.

"We didn't really know what was going on for a while," Green said.

They would learn about the hamstring injury before halftime. When they returned to the locker room at the end of the half, they saw Curry with ice on his hamstring.

"He's obviously crushed," Kerr said. "But the guys picked him up and played a great game and obviously we're all concerned about Steph, but it's part of the game."

Curry left the game with 13 points in 13 minutes. Without him, the Warriors still managed to extend a 10-point lead when Curry left into a 74-53 cushion with 2:36 left in the third quarter.

Green anchored a Warriors defense that forced Anthony Edwards (23 points and 14 rebounds) into missing his first 10 shots from the field. And Green picked up his offense, scoring 18 points and hitting four 3-pointers to go with eight rebounds and six assists.

Jimmy Butler, the former Wolves player who heard boos whenever he touched the ball, had 20 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists as the Warriors played through Butler on offense. And Buddy Hield continued his hot shooting. After scoring 33 points in the Warriors' Game 7 win over Houston on Sunday, Hield scored 24 much-needed points to go with eight rebounds against Minnesota.

The Warriors needed and got a team effort to hold off Minnesota in the fourth.

"I didn't see any change in their approach," Minnesota center Rudy Gobert said. "Obviously Steph is Steph, but they were playing like their life depended on it since the beginning of the game and I didn't feel that for us early on."

Butler has given Curry the nickname of Batman while saying he's Robin. And Hield has taken to calling himself Alfred as part of the Warriors' Batman universe. But despite what Gobert thinks, the roles changed with Curry out.

"Robin turned in Batman," Green said. "Alfred turned into Robin and they just filled in. It was beautiful to see."

If Curry misses time in this series, it would be a devastating blow for Golden State. Curry averaged 24 points, 5.9 rebounds and 5.7 assists in the Warriors' seven-game first-round win over Houston. Kerr said he and his coaching staff will have to figure out how to keep the offense going without the greatest shooter in NBA history.

Kerr won't have much time to figure things out and Curry won't have a ton of time to heal initially. This best-of-7 series against Minnesota has only one day of rest between each game from Nos. 1 to 5. But there are three days off between Games 5 and 6, which could loom large for the Warriors.

Curry, 37, was already playing through an injured shooting thumb.

"I think we all want (No.) 30 back, that is for sure," Butler said. "But we want him to do his best for himself, best for our group. Until then, we can hold down the fort. I know we can.

Green said the Warriors "won't panic" if Curry has to miss time.

"We know what Jimmy's capable of," Green said. "Jimmy's capable of carrying a team. He carried a team to the Finals twice. So we won't panic. We will figure out what that means. We have the best coaching staff in the NBA. We know they'll put us in a good spot and let us know what our offense looks like without Steph if we have to go on without him. We got full confidence in the guys that are on this team that we can make plays, can make shots."

ESPN's Dave McMenamin contributed to this report.