Stephen Curry limped out of the locker room and walked down a long hallway with his sprained left ankle wrapped in black tape and the Golden State Warriors' season possibly in the balance.

If there was one thing proven in Game 3 of Golden State's second-round series against San Antonio, it was that when Curry's jumper isn't falling, the Warriors can look like a rather ordinary team.

Curry missed 12 of his 17 shots in his worst shooting performance of the postseason as the Warriors fell 102-92 to the Spurs on Friday night to fall behind 2-1 in the series.

"I have faith in Steph. I think he'll bounce back," teammate Klay Thompson said. "I don't know how he's feeling. Hopefully he's with us. He's our best player, he's our leader. But if he's not, we'll have to do it collectively and not let it bother us."

Even before Curry's ankle buckled in a recurrence of an injury sustained in Game 2 of the first round in Denver, there was something off about his game, starting with a rare airball on a 3-point attempt in the second quarter.

He missed two potential tying 3-pointers in the third quarter and a key one early in the fourth as the Warriors were unable to get over the hump all game.

After scoring 66 points in the first two games to help Golden State get the split in San Antonio, Curry was held to 16 in Game 3 to the disappointment of the frenzied crowd at Oracle Arena.

The Warriors hope Curry is back healthy for Game 4 on Sunday afternoon.

"He'll get treatment. We'll see how that responds. Hopefully he's ready to play," coach Mark Jackson said. "If not, we got guys more than capable of going out and getting us a win."

With Thompson's shot also off on a 7-for-20 night and the Warriors defense lacking, they had no chance to overcome Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and the rest of the top-seeded Spurs.

Associated Press

(China Daily 05/12/2013 page7)