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Series score won't decide if Curry plays - Kerr

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr says the score of their series with the Houston Rockets will not factor in to when Stephen Curry returns.

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Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr says the score of their playoff series with Houston Rockets will not factor in to when Stephen Curry returns from an ankle issue.

The Warriors went 2-0 up on the Rockets in the first-round series on Monday, claiming a 115-106 win at Oracle Arena, but were forced to do so without reigning MVP Curry.

Curry, who tweaked his ankle in the series opener and played just under 20 minutes as a result, watched from the sideline, the point guard making the decision not to play after taking part in team warm-ups.

Golden State now travel to Houston in search of a series sweep, with game three taking place at the Toyota Center on Thursday.

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Asked if the 2-0 series score would make him more inclined to not risk Curry in game three, Kerr said at a media conference: "I'd think that if it were 1-1 and he was still not able to play then we wouldn't play him.

"We wouldn't want to put winning ahead of player's career and his health, we've seen teams do that and pay for it. Players have paid for it in the past, we want to make sure Steph is right and his foot is fine and healthy.

"We'll see how he responds the next couple of days and, if he's not right, obviously being up 2-0 does give us a little more cushion if we decided to sit him but it'll be based on his health not the series score.

"It's really what the training staff says and what Steph says about how he's feeling. He didn't feel it during warm-ups. He tried to see how it would feel and he tried to push off on it and it was tender, so we weren't going to take a chance.

"He made the decision [not to play]. I was in here doing media when he was out on the floor so I went back to the locker room and the other coaches told me he was out.

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"We'll talk to him tomorrow [Tuesday] and see where he is but fortunately we don't play till Thursday and he's got some time to get some treatment."

Pressed on whether the blow is to his ankle or foot, Kerr replied: "I don't know, honestly. It's both. I'm not sure I know the difference, it's the back of his foot, it's underneath the ankle. It's something down there."

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