After overcoming his latest ankle injury, Stephen Curry returned to the court on Friday but only lasted three quarters as he was forced off after hurting his knee in an innocuous play.

Teammate JaVale McGee fell onto Curry's knee after going for a rebound and the two-time MVP was in immediate pain and hobbled into the locker room.

The Golden State Warriors confirmed on Saturday that the point guard has suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain and will be re-evaluated in three weeks.

But head coach Steve Kerr ruled out any chance of Curry making a recovery within that timeframe and also stated that there's "no way" he'll be ready to play in the first round of the playoffs.

That means the defending champions will have to go into a challenging opening round encounter without their superstar where they could face the Minnesota Timberwolves, San Antonio Spurs or Utah Jazz.

The absence of Steph, however, doesn't concern Kerr too much and he's hugely confident that they can overcome any team without the sharpshooter.

"We're perfectly capable of beating anybody - regular season or playoffs, we can beat anybody in the league without Steph," he said, he said, per CBS Sports.

The Dubs coach believes their past experience of winning playoff games without the three-point marksman proves they can get it done and that was at a time when they didn't have Kevin Durant to call upon.

"Frankly, I don't need solace. I watched this team two years ago without Kevin (Durant) win playoff games without Steph. We beat Houston in the first round and Steph missed four games," he said.

"Played part of Game 1 and part of Game 4. Missed most of the series and we won in five. Then we played Portland in the next round and we won the first two games without him. So we know -- and that team was different than now, but we didn't have Kevin Durant."

Kerr has major confidence in his team and rightfully so as they're still a very dangerous team with Curry out.

This is also clearly a tactic to motivate the rest of the players to prove that they're good enough to win without their leader.

But in an ultra-competitive Western Conference, their rivals will look at this as an opportunity to cause an upset.

The Oakland-based outfit swept their way through the west last year en route to the NBA Finals, but it's almost certain that won't happen again this time around.

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