Stephen Curry's knee injury suffered during Saturday's win over the Dallas Mavericks is a "concern" for Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr.
The reigning NBA champions had enough to close out the game, beating the Mavs 119-113 at Chase Center.
But Curry – who recorded 21 points, seven assists and six rebounds – was forced off in the third quarter.
Defending a drive, Curry was involved in a collision that instantly caused him obvious discomfort and prevented him from continuing.
The Warriors confirmed X-ray results came back negative, but more examinations are required to understand the full nature of the injury.
"Any time a guy's going to get an MRI there's a concern level, for sure," Kerr said. "So we'll just have to wait and see the results.
"This has happened many, many times over the years. So, fingers crossed he's OK."
Curry hurt the same knee only two days before against the Denver Nuggets, though Kerr was unsure if the two injuries had any form of relation.
If Curry does require a spell on the sidelines, Kerr and the Warriors can at least study their game from his last prolonged absence earlier this season when a shoulder injury forced him to miss 11 games.
"If he's out, then we move forward and we do have some games to look at, some game film to look at," Kerr added. "We'll be ready, regardless."
Curry's exit coincided with a significant drop-off for the Warriors, who went from 20 points up to having just a five-point lead with a little over 90 seconds left.
It is not the first time the Warriors have been unconvincing when trying to close a game out, with Draymond Green suggesting the players need to take more responsibility.
"When we get down the stretch, we stop doing the things that work," he said. "When the game is going down the stretch, it's hard for Steve [Kerr] to get a call in every time.
"You're under pressure, it's intense, you're in the game, you're not really focused on what's coming from the sidelines. We've got to do a better job closing down the stretch."
This victory took the Warriors to 27-26 for the season, leaving them seventh in the Western Conference.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver hopeful new CBA can get done before Friday deadline
NBA commissioner Adam Silver is hopeful a new collective bargaining agreement between the league and players can be approved before Friday's deadline.
If not, he said the league's plan would then be to opt out of the current CBA.
The NBA and National Basketball Players Association are negotiating ahead of a deadline set for midnight on Friday that would allow either side to opt out of the current CBA on June 30.
The current CBA expires at the conclusion of the 2023-24 season.
"I certainly can foresee one getting done and I hope we do get one done," Silver said on Wednesday during his news conference at the conclusion of a two-day meeting of the league's Board of Governors.
The sides have already extended the deadline on two previous occasions – once in December and another time in February – and Silver said the league won't extend it again if there is no deal by Friday night.
"If we don't have a deal by this Friday night and nothing else were to happen, yes, it would be our intention to opt out of the current deal," Silver said.
The two sides have been negotiating a new CBA for more than a year with spending limits and player health being specific issues, and Silver said progress has been made.
"I think both sides understand that this is a window of opportunity that we should try not to miss," Silver said. "Because, if we don't have the deal done this Friday, the next real deadline is June 30, but that's the very end of the season.
"The whole idea behind these early deadlines (is) to try to avoid going right up to the line."
While Silver said the league would exercise the opt-out option if a deal isn't reached by Friday, NBPA executive director Tamika Tremaglio said the players don't intend to opt out.
"The March 31 deadline is an important benchmark, and we are doing everything in our power to reach an agreement with the league," Tremaglio said in a statement.
"If we don't have a deal and the league decides to opt out, it will be disappointing considering all the work both sides have put into the negotiations, and the fair nature of our requests. As far as our fans are concerned, it will be business as usual. Games will continue uninterrupted."
Although there is a midnight Friday deadline, Silver said if progress is being made and the two sides are close, it is possible the deadline could be pushed back a few days.
"I could imagine if it came midnight Friday night, and we were having a productive discussion and somebody said, ‘We could use a few more days,' we would agree to a few more days," Silver said. "But that's more of a hypothetical."
Kerr credits Green with willing Warriors to victory as Curry lauds unmatched 'competitive spirit'
Steve Kerr credited Draymond Green with "willing" the Golden State Warriors to victory in their comeback win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Green scored eight points and provided 13 assists, four turnovers and two steals to help complete a 120-109 turnaround triumph for the reigning NBA champions at Chase Center.
Golden State were trailing by 17 points after a lacklustre first half, but Green sparked the team into life, earning the credit from his coach.
"Draymond willed us to victory tonight," said Kerr. "Just the intensity, the frustration early with the way we were playing.
"Mad at the world, yelling at everybody – their bench, our bench – and frankly, we deserved it."
Green's first spark came late in the second quarter when he picked up his 17th technical foul for a shove on Brandon Ingram.
The pair exchanged words, amongst some shoving, and were issued Ts.
He will be fined $5,000 if the technical foul does not get rescinded over the next 24 hours - which Green thinks it will be - but if it does not, the Warriors forward believes it was worth it.
"It was perfect," said Green. "Perfectly executed. We looked dead those first 18 minutes. We had to find some energy somewhere.
"It wasn't just going to come, especially after losing the game like we did last game [99-96 to Minnesota Timberwolves].
"That can carry over. I felt like it did. I knew we had to do something and do it fast before the game got out of hand."
Green almost picked up another technical foul 20 seconds later after colliding with Herbert Jones but following more shoving and a video review, no Ts were assessed.
"I've got to play with the same intensity I try to play with each and every time I step on the court," added Green.
"I can't worry about that. For me, if I'm going to change my intensity level, then why be out there?"
Following Green's clash with Jones, Stephen Curry got involved in the scrum yelling at Pelicans players and giving some shoves.
"He knows that guys are backing him up," said Curry. "I'm sure [Green] wouldn't go out on an island like that if he didn't have that confidence.
"There are times when I've got to keep him in check and bring him back in when it's turning in the wrong direction in the sense of staying focused on just winning."
The Warriors outscored the Pelicans 74-46 in the second half, shooting 70 per cent to help complete their second-biggest comeback of the season.
Curry scored or assisted half of the points Golden State won after half-time.
Green said: "When I turned it up a notch, [Curry] turned it up another two notches.
"We all hopped in line and followed him, and he was locked in. No one was stopping him."
The Warriors are now sixth in the Western Conference, holding just a half-game advantage over the Timberwolves in seventh with five rounds left of the regular season.
"It feels like we've been in a playoff vibe for a couple of weeks now," said Curry.
"The only difference is you're playing a different team every night. But it's the same kind of adrenaline rush that we're getting. Every game does matter.
"We have a competitive spirit that's unmatched. And it's been that way for a decade."
Brown bemoans 'everything going wrong' as Celtics team bus stuck in traffic before defeat
Jaylen Brown did not want to make excuses but acknowledged "everything was going wrong for us" after the Boston Celtics' upset loss at the Washington Wizards.
The Celtics had the opportunity to close to within one win of the Milwaukee Bucks and the number one seed in the East on Wednesday.
Instead, they went down 130-111 to a Wizards team missing Bradley Beal and Kyle Kuzma.
One of the Celtics' team buses was stuck in traffic for around an hour before the game, and although Boston recovered to make a solid start, it was the first sign of the troublesome night that was to come.
"Tonight it just seemed like everything was going right for Washington; everything was going wrong for us," Brown said.
"On top of all the stuff that was happening before the game... but I'm not one to make no excuses."
The Celtics had recovered from a run of three straight defeats in early March to win seven of the next nine before visiting the Wizards.
While Boston are now 2.5 games back, Brown knows they cannot afford this one-off defeat to become part of a slump.
After the Bucks play the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday, they welcome the Celtics to Wisconsin the following night.
"Games like this are not supposed to happen. You're supposed to win," Brown said. "But it's over with now, nothing we can do about it.
"I'm not concerned, because the way my brain works is you have just got to look forward to what's next.
"You don't want one bad night to turn into three bad nights or a bad week. Nobody wants to see that. We don't want to see that, so you don't harp on it.
"Obviously, we dropped the ball. But now you have just got to refocus and get ready for the next one."
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