Never was Stephen Curry's impact more clearly illustrated than when the Golden State Warriors struggled to even compete against the Minnesota Timberwolves without him. Curry was sidelined with a hamstring strain for all but 13 minutes of the Warriors' five-game elimination in the Western Conference semifinals,

The Warriors cannot afford to dig themselves a hole in Wednesday's Game 5, especially playing in Minnesota, so playing conservatively will likely not get the job done. Golden Stat

Curry had mostly played at his usual vintage level ever since the trade for six-time All-Star forward Jimmy Butler in February until his injury. His play was up and down in the first round of the playoffs versus the Houston Rockets, but he had big performances in Game 1, Game 3 and Game 7 to put the Warriors over the top.