Kerr stresses the Warriors will be careful with Curry

A right ankle injury cost Stephen Curry the first playoff game of his NBA career Monday, and the Golden State Warriors have every intention to be careful in regards to their superstar's health, according to coach Steve Kerr.

"We know that he had surgery on that ankle four years ago," Kerr told reporters before Game 2 of the Dubs' first-round series against the Houston Rockets, referring to the ankle problems that plagued Curry's third pro season.

On Monday, Curry was clearly favoring his other foot while warming up on the floor at Oracle Arena. Minutes later, he was ruled out of the game.

"He has a lot of basketball ahead of him," Kerr said, before invoking one of the all-time cautionary injury tales in NBA history. "There's plenty of cases in the past where people have played through stuff and it didn't turn out so well, Grant Hill being the one that always jumps out at me.

"And whether that's the same type of thing as this I don't really know," Kerr added, striking fear into the hearts of Dub Nation. "I do know that we have to look after his health, because the competitor that he is, he's going to want to play."

Hill, christened the NBA's next superstar in the mid-90s, missed a total of 305 games in a four-season span in the middle of his career due to a severe ankle injury and was never the same player afterward.

Curry has not missed more than four regular-season contests since his ankle surgery, and now wears special braces on both feet. He only sat out three games this year.