Stephen Curry glad to avoid shoulder surgery, hopeful for quick recovery

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Stephen Curry said he was relieved when the surgery on his left shoulder was not needed.

Curry said 100 percent after the Warriors' shootaround. The whole dynamic of the conversation changed as a result of that.

It was just a matter of making sure I didn't need surgery and that my shoulder would be able to heal on its own. Curry said that nobody wants to be dealing with the recovery time from the surgeries.

The Warriors star will be out for a few weeks after he was injured in the loss to the Pacers.

Curry is hoping that the fact that he has never had a shoulder injury before will lead to a quicker recovery than if it were a recurring problem.

Curry said it was hard to say because it was the first time he had done it. There are a few guys that have more severe cases, and you kind of do your guess.

"Just knowing this is the first time, you try to stay away from me mentally, just trying to stay away from how long it's going to be."

D Wade missed 23 games in 2008 because of a shoulder injury. There are 20 games between Friday and February 1.

The Warriors have a lot to do regardless of when Curry comes back. Golden State's starting five -- Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney -- is the second-most-used starting lineup in the NBA this season. Curry, who said he has been in the best shape of his life over the past couple of seasons, has been playing as well as he ever has. He is averaging 30 points this season on 50% shooting, 43.4% from 3-point range, and 11.6 attempts, with 6.8 assists and 6.6 rebound.

The Warriors are 2-13 on the road and have little to no production from their bench. Curry set a lower bar for success when he was asked if the goal was to remain around.500 while he was out.

"That's always a good sound bite, but I think where we're at, we just want to win a road game and take it from there," Curry said.

Their quest to do that will begin in Philadelphia on Friday night before the Warriors go to Toronto, New York, and Brooklyn to end their road trip with a 1-2 record.

They will have to win without some of their best players. Along with Curry being out, Green will not play because of a quad contusion, and Wiggins is out with an adductor strain.

Curry wants his teammates to show the kind of consistency they need to defend their title. The Warriors are confident they can get themselves right because no one in the Western Conference has broken away.

Curry said it was time to start doing that even if he was sitting and watching.

Curry said, "This is a very important stretch because you want to maintain as much optimism and belief in what we're doing and give yourself a chance to finish the year strong." No team in the West has really separated themselves while the All-Star break was in place. We can say that we're in good shape. I believe we can be a consistent basketball team.