The Golden State Warriors will likely play without their star player, Stephen Curry, for the next three games because of a small muscle injury in his leg.

The Warriors announced that Curry would miss at least a week after getting injured early in the second quarter of Game 1 on Tuesday, which they won 99-88. He scored 13 points in 13 minutes, helping Golden State get a good lead and win on the Timberwolves' home court.

"Every year in the playoffs, you have to change and adjust to different things, like your plan for a game, injuries, or the players you use," said coach Steve Kerr. "We have done this before, and we are sure we can do it again."

Following Game 2 in Minneapolis on Thursday, the series shifts west to San Francisco for Game 3 on Saturday and Game 4 on Monday. Curry's earliest potential return appears to be Game 5 on May 14, which is conveniently succeeded by three consecutive off days preceding Game 6 on May 18.

Curry has never had a serious hamstring injury before, so it's hard to know how long he will be out. It's also unclear if the Warriors can play well enough without him until he comes back near the end of the series. They probably shouldn't count on that happening.

Kerr said, "We believe our team has the best defense in the league, and we've shown this over the past few months."

However, this Golden State team is not as strong as previous teams when Curry and Draymond Green were younger, and Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala were key players. In 2018, they also had Kevin Durant.

The Warriors were happy with the great effort from all the players, led by Jimmy Butler, Buddy Hield, and Green in the first game, where the coach, Kerr, used 12 different players.

Without Curry, the ball will be passed to Butler most of the time, as it was on Tuesday. This player, who joined the team from Miami three months ago and has helped them improve their attack and defense, scored 20 points, took 11 rebounds, and made eight assists in the first game. He scored 20 or more points in four out of the five games he played against Houston in the first round.

“Everyone on the team is focused and ready. Anyone who plays is trying to make important moves,” said Mike Conley, a guard for the Timberwolves. “So you need to be even more focused on the game, who you are playing against, and what they usually do. This is because they are not only looking at players like Curry. Clearly, Buddy and Jimmy will play more strongly, but they have other players who can score points, and they might try to do this together as a team.”