The Golden State Warriors don’t need Stephen Curry in this series. That is the bottom line, and there is no reason to play him and risk injuring his right ankle further against a team they can beat without him.

And that is why we probably won’t see Curry on the floor again until the next round. The Houston Rockets might have the worst chemistry of any squad in the playoffs, and frankly they could be beaten by almost any Western Conference team in a seven-game series. The Warriors overcame Houston 115-106 on Monday night, and it was mainly thanks to 34 points from Klay Thompson.

The Rockets aren’t a threat to upset the defending champions for many reasons. James Harden doesn’t pretend to play defense even in the playoffs.

Everyone in the world roasted James Harden for his terrible defense yesterday: https://t.co/RaYz5fh0kE https://t.co/JCC9wuG0w7

— Complex Sports (@Complex_Sports) April 19, 2016

Also, Dwight Howard looks completely lost on both ends of the floor and openly insults his teammates during games. If this is the way things are in live action, then what are these guys like behind closed doors?

Steve Kerr will make the final call on whether or not to play Curry in the rest of this series, and the head coach claims that being ahead 2-0 won’t determine which choice is made.

“I’d like to think if it were 1-1 and he was still not able to play, we wouldn’t play him,” Kerr said to NBA.com. “We’d never want to put winning ahead of a player’s career and his health. We’ve seen teams do that and paid for it. Players have paid for it in the past. So we want to make sure Steph is right and his foot is fine and healthy. So we’ll see how he responds the next couple of days, and if he’s not right obviously being up 2-0 does give us more cushion if we decide to sit him. But it will be based on his health, not the series score.”

It is hard to believe Kerr here. He is a guy who was coached by Gregg Popovich, and Kerr knows how important Curry’s health is to the Warriors’ championship hopes. Shaun Livingston, Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green and Andrew Bogut are more than capable of holding down the starting lineup with Curry out, and Golden State’s bench could use some extra playoff repetitions as well.

The Warriors are at a crossroads here. They don’t play again until Thursday, and it should be interesting to watch what they choose to do. The smart thing would be to rest Curry and live to fight another day with a healthy superstar.