Curry fouls out but finishes game for decimated Warriors

The Golden State Warriors' injury curse has now reached historic proportions.

And rookie guard Stephen Curry is going to go down in the NBA record books as a bizarre footnote to an inconceivable season.

In the closing seconds of Friday night's 113-104 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, Curry committed his sixth foul but wasn't forced to leave the game because the Warriors didn't have anyone eligible or healthy enough to bring in. Instead, the Bucks were rewarded a technical foul shot based on what is believed to be the first ever enforcement of a rule that says no team will be required to play with fewer than five players. According to the rule, any foul committed by Curry for the rest of the game would have resulted in both a team and technical foul.

Fortunately, there were only four seconds remaining.

Those four seconds, however, are more than enough to land Curry in the record book. Without the actual research to back it up, Curry has to be the first player ever to play all 48 minutes of a regulation-length game in which he fouled out.

"I had no idea. I thought we'd be playing with four people," Curry was quoted in The Chronicle. "It's crazy. It's an unfortunate sequence of events that have all come right on top of each other. The severity of our injuries is unbelievable."

See: game notebook

A season that was once frustrating and disappointing has progressed to depths beyond words. There is no way to accurately describe the unbelievable misfortune that has struck this team.

For anyone who has forgotten, here's the "quick" rundown:

-- Brandan Wright, separated shoulder, out for season.

-- Kelenna Azubuike, torn patellar tendon, out for season.

-- Raja Bell, wrist surgery, out for season.

-- Mikki Moore, surgery for bone spurs in his heel, out indefinitely and released.

-- Anthony Randolph, torn ligaments in his ankle, out at least two months.

-- Vladimir Radmanovic, sore Achilles, did not dress Friday and is day-to-day.

-- C.J. Watson, lacerated finger, did not dress Friday and is day-to-day though he told reporters prior to Friday's game that he's out at least two weeks.

-- Ronny Turiaf, sore knee and sprained ankle, did not dress Friday and is day-to-day. Has missed 26 games this year due to injuries.

-- Andris Biedrins has played the past nine games but missed 25 of the previous 26, mostly because of an abdominal/groin injury.

-- Devean George didn't play in 31 of the first 35 games with a knee injury but was forced to play 19 minutes Friday.

-- Speedy Claxton has not played in a game yet.

-- Don't forget that coach Don Nelson missed time with pneumonia and Watson was out with the swine flu.

And then came Friday's disaster. Barely a minute into the game, Milwaukee's Andrew Bogut barreled down the lane and collided with the Warriors' Corey Maggette, who fell backward into the leg of teammate Anthony Morrow, who fell to the ground and grabbed his knee.

Morrow left the game, rode a stationary bike on the sideline hoping to work through the pain, and tried to return but quickly left unable to perform. He did not return with what was diagnosed as a sprained right knee. An MRI is scheduled for Saturday to determine the extent of the injury. History says, it will be bad news.

After Morrow's injury, the Warriors, who began the game with eight healthy bodies, were down to seven. That lucky seven included two D-League call-ups, a rookie, an 11-year veteran who probably wouldn't be in uniform if he didn't have to be, a center working his way back from injury, a 10-year veteran accustomed to sixth-man minutes, and the ironman himself, Monta Ellis.

But even Ellis, who played all 48 minutes for the eighth time this year, is playing through a minor sprained ankle he suffered Monday.

Not long after Morrow's injury, Cartier Martin was knocked in the head by Bogut on another hard drive to the basket and had to be taken to the locker room for treatment.

And then the fouls started.

Midway through the third quarter, Chris Hunter fouled out, leaving the Warriors with six players. At the time Hunter fouled out, the Warriors, who once led by 13 early in the game, were down 68-66. Unable to play their trademark aggressive defense for fear of accumulating more fouls, the Warriors gave up easier-than-usual baskets to the Bucks, who took full advantage of the Warriors' predicament.

The Bucks outscored the Warriors 36-23 in the third quarter and led 84-79 going to the fourth.

Four minutes into the fourth, Biedrins picked up his fifth foul and took his turn as the only eligible Warrior in uniform on the bench. He came back two minutes later, only to foul out with 51 seconds left, leaving the Warriors with their five on the floor and no others.

Despite everything that had happened, the Warriors were still in the game at 105-102. Brandon Jennings, who scored 55 against the Warriors in their first meeting but was held pretty much in check most of the game by Curry, then delivered a staggering 3-pointer for a 108-102 lead. (Memo to Jennings: your opponent is down to five players and just surviving in the main goal so stop with all the dancing and celebrating. It's in really bad taste.)

After Maggette made it 108-104, Curry was called for his fifth foul with 13 seconds left. Luke Ridnour hit both free throws and Martin missed a 3-pointer at the other end to effectively end the game -- except for the historic part.

With four seconds left, Curry grabbed Ridnour for his sixth foul. With no one to replace Curry, the Warriors were called for a technical, Ridnour hit all three free throws and history, presumably, had been made.

Referee Joe Crawford, who has been in the league 33 years, said he has never seen this happen before.

Going forward, the Warriors host the Bulls on Monday and it's unsure who will be available to play.

We can pencil in (the Warriors stopped using ink months ago) Ellis, Curry, Martin, Biedrins, Maggette, Hunter and George. They need one more to reach the league minimum of eight. Maybe Radmanovic will dress. Maybe Turiaf will dress, as he did earlier this year when the Warriors were down to as few as six healthy players. Maybe Keith Smart or even Nelson will dress. Who knows?

Just when we thought this season couldn't get any worse, it did Friday night. It's hard to believe that just three weeks ago, this team was celebrating back-to-back wins over Phoenix and Boston and was about to go on a mini 4-3 run that gave them hope heading into the season's longest homestand.

Now, 1-3 on the seven-game homestand and 11-27 overall, the Warriors are just hoping to survive the season.