INDIANAPOLIS -- Steph Curry, with the Warriors down by 20 points going into halftime against the Indiana Pacers following his buzzer-beating 3-pointer, stood bent over with his hands on his knees as he huffed and puffed on the Gainbridge Fieldhouse hardwood.
His passion and frustration was felt as he and Warriors assistant coach Bruce Fraser shared a long conversation. Curry was tired of this. Tired of watching his team get punked on the road. Listed as questionable with right knee soreness hours before Wednesday night's tipoff after taking a hard fall in the first quarter of the Warriors' loss to the Milwaukee Bucks the night before, Curry wasn't going to be stuck to the sidelines in street clothes.
As he so often does, Curry knew he had to set the tone and send a message. And did he ever.
With our All Access Daily newsletter, stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams!
SIGN UP HERE Until disaster struck late in the third quarter of the Warriors' eventual 125-119 loss to the Pacers.
Reaching in for a steal on Pacers big man Jalen Smith, Curry went to rip the ball away with an outstretched left arm. Smith lost control for a split second, but Curry immediately grabbed his left shoulder. The Warriors wasted no time in calling a timeout to get Curry checked out.
After being looked at by two trainers on the bench, Curry went to the Warriors' locker room with director of sports medicine and performance Rick Celebrini. He never returned and officially was ruled out with a left shoulder injury a little less than halfway through the fourth quarter.
Steve Kerr announced after the loss that Curry will get an MRI Thursday on his left shoulder. Results should come Thursday or Friday.
Golden State Warriors
Find the latest Golden State Warriors news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.
"We'll see how he feels tomorrow," Kerr said.
Kerr also said that he didn't know the level of pain Curry was in. He did check in on his superstar briefly before meeting with the media. Per usual, Curry's spirits were high, Kerr said, despite the circumstances. Curry had his left shoulder wrapped in ice in the locker room, and was his same jovial self with teammates and trainers. Prior to the treatment, as Curry sat at his locker his left shoulder hung straight down and he leaned slightly to his injured side.
The Warriors play the 76ers in Philadelphia on Friday and the Raptors in Toronto on Sunday, before back-to-back games in New York -- first against the Knicks next Tuesday and then the Nets on Wednesday.
At the time of his injury, Curry was doing everything he could to try and will the Warriors to a win. Everything.
He had scored 38 of the Warriors' 80 points in 30 minutes before going down. While the rest of his teammates struggled to score, Curry was getting it done for Golden State however he wanted to. He went 6-for-9 on 2-point shots and 5-for-10 on 3-pointers, along with making all 11 of his free throws.
The scoring is what stood out most, but it wasn't the whole story. It never is anymore with Steph.
Curry also gave the Warriors seven assists, seven rebounds and two steals. He now has played 26 games this season and has scored 30 or more points in 16 of them. Curry also has totaled at least seven assists 13 times and seven or more rebounds nine times.
"Just stunning," Kerr said about Curry's performance ahead of his night ending early. "He just basically put us on his shoulders for the minutes that he was out there. He was generating so much offense. He was getting to the line, he was getting the ball to other people.
"He was absolutely brilliant."
Though several Warriors stepped up in his absence, looking at the first-half numbers is a wild illustration of the Warriors' latest loss, dropping their road record to 2-13 on the season.
Kerr kept Curry on the court for the entirety of the first quarter. Steph scored 15 points, and the next-highest scorer was Jordan Poole with four points. By halftime, Curry was up to 27 points. So were the rest of his teammates combined.
Then there's the efficiency. Curry made nine of his 13 first-half shots, sank four of his seven 3-point attempts and made all five of his free throws. The rest of the Warriors were 11-for-31 overall and 2-for-10 from deep. Poole was the only other Warrior to get to the line in the first half, also making both his free throws.
No other Warrior was in double digits through the first two quarters. Poole scored eight of his 20 points in the first half, but was 3-for-9 from the field and missed all three of his shots beyond the arc.
Curry didn't need to send a message at halftime. His game spoke for itself. Kerr made himself clear, though.
"It's about competing, weathering the storm," Kerr said. "This has been a tough start to the season. We're in a tough stretch. Maybe it's gonna get tougher if Steph's out for a while. I mean, if he's out it will for sure get tougher.
"But you just got to persevere and keep fighting. It's a long season. The thing I'm very, very confident about is if we're healthy we can beat anybody. I think this team has proven that. Our job is to get there. We have to find a way to navigate this season and continue to bring along the young guys."
RELATED: Kerr passionately defends Steph after no-call vs. Bucks
Health always is the biggest if in sports. The same can be said for life in general. In the Warriors' world, there's no bigger if than the results of a Steph Curry MRI.
Now we wait.
