Stephen Curry, Kawhi Leonard Injury Updates Before NBA Playoffs 2018 Start

Stephen Curry and Kawhi Leonard are two of the NBA’s five best players when healthy. That’s an important disclaimer, considering both superstars are dealing with injuries heading into the playoffs.

Wednesday marks the final day of the regular season, and the postseason is set to begin Saturday. The Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs have secured playoff berths, but it looks like they’ll be without their injured stars to begin the postseason, at the very least.

There isn’t nearly as much mystery surrounding Curry’s ailment. The point guard suffered a sprained MCL on March 23 and hasn’t played since. Head coach Steve Kerr ruled out Curry for the first round, and the two-time MVP will be re-evaluated Saturday.

Golden State will be a heavy favorite in the first round, regardless of Curry’s health, and the guard is expected to return at some point this postseason. Even Kerr’s declaration doesn’t mean for certain that Curry won’t recover more quickly than expected and be back on the court before the conference semifinals.

Curry’s absence will make the Warriors’ road to the 2018 NBA Finals more difficult. The team ended the regular season with 10 losses in their last 17 games, struggling offensively without the best shooter in basketball.

The Warriors enter the playoffs as the West’s No.2 seed. The Houston Rockets have long since locked up the No.1 seed, giving Golden State very little to play for over the last few weeks.

That hasn’t been the case with San Antonio and Leonard. The Spurs have been fighting to clinch a playoff berth without their superstar, finally doing so with a victory in their 81st game.

Leonard has been ruled out for Wednesday’s regular-season finale against the New Orleans Pelicans. The game is an important one, and it could be the difference between San Antonio earning home-court advantage in the first round and having to start the playoffs against the defending champs.

Leonard hasn’t played since Jan. 13 because of a quadriceps injury, and fans shouldn’t expect to see him again until next season. There were a few occasions when it looked like the 2014 NBA Finals MVP would return, only for him to remain sidelined, despite reportedly being cleared to play by team doctors.

The Spurs, however, have not ruled out his return, keeping the door open for Leonard to come back at some point in the playoffs.

San Antonio has been without Leonard in all but nine games. They’re guaranteed to win at least 13 fewer games than they did a season ago when the forward led the Spurs to a Western Conference Finals matchup with Golden State. The Warriors swept the Spurs when an ankle injury forced Leonard to miss the final quarter of Game 1, as well as the rest of the series.