These four Warriors will need to step up in Steph Curry’s absence

SAN FRANCISCO — Steph Curry sprained his left foot battling with Marcus Smart for a ball in Wednesday’s loss to Boston.

The good news: Reports indicate that Curry is expected to return in time for the playoffs, in whatever seed the Warriors find themselves on April 16.

The bad news: The Warriors will need to make up for his absence in the remaining 12 regular-season games. The Warriors have a five-city road trip, four back-to-backs and four games against top teams in the Heat, Grizzlies, Suns and Jazz over that 12-game span.

The Warriors have a team-best 114.1 offensive rating with Curry on the court and team-worst 103.7 offensive rating when he’s off the court. To keep their No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, a number of Warriors will need to step up.

Jordan Poole

Poole has followed a February slump with a scorching March — a good sign for the Warriors heading into these final games and playoffs. In nine games this month, Poole is shooting 50 percent from 3 and 56 percent from the field.

When Poole, Curry and Klay Thompson share the floor, they are the best offensive three-player combo the Warriors have had all year with a 121.7 offensive rating over 19 games. The trio challenged opposing defenses with a variety of looks from Curry and Poole’s playmaking, crafty moves to the rim and shooting along with Thompson’s hot hand threat.

Poole has shown he can carry the offense when called upon. After Curry left Wednesday’s game, Poole went off for a 19-point third quarter, finishing the game with 29 points and six 3-pointers made against Boston’s top defense. He’s fearless getting to the rim and can create for others.

Klay Thompson

As was typical in previous seasons, Thompson has gone hot and cold from 3-point land since his highly anticipated return on Jan. 9. On some nights he can’t buy a 3-pointer; on others, his shooting leads Golden State to wins.

Take Thompson’s recent five-game stretch, in which he had four games with sub-40 percent shooting for 18-20 points, but popped off against the defending champion Bucks Saturday night for 38 points on eight 3-pointers in a win.

Thompson has had other big scoring nights, including a 33-point game against the Lakers and a seven 3-pointer game against the Kings. Even after a two-plus year layoff, Thompson has the game-changing gene well within him. If he can activate it more readily, the Warriors can make up plenty of offense in Curry’s absence.

Andrew Wiggins

Wiggins missed the last two games with an illness, but he was struggling before that.

Before a 21-point game against the Bucks, Wiggins hadn’t scored more than 20 in a game since Jan. 31. His 3-point percentage took a significant hit over that span — he’s shooting 35% from 3 over his last 15 games, compared to 42% in his 47 previous games.

The Warriors need Wiggins to return to the catch-and-shoot form that earned him an All-Star nod in Curry’s absence and beyond, into a successful playoff run.

Chris Chiozza

The Warriors are down a point guard, so expect the 26-year-old Chiozza to get more minutes off the bench when Poole isn’t on the floor to make up for Curry’s lost minutes.

Chiozza may not be able to make up for Curry’s shooting numbers, but a player who has fallen out of the rotation has demonstrated good passing instincts and can read the floor well.