The Associated Press The Warriors’ Stephen Curry hits a shot in front of Minnesota coach Chris Finch during Game 1 action from Tuesday night.

MINNEAPOLIS — The Golden State Warriors are planning to play without Stephen Curry for at least the next three games of their second-round series against Minnesota, after an MRI exam on Wednesday confirmed a mild strain of the star guard’s left hamstring.

The Warriors said Curry would be sidelined at least a week after the injury on Tuesday night forced him out early in the second quarter of Game 1, which they went on to win 99-88. He had 13 points in 13 minutes to help Golden State build a comfortable lead and take home-court advantage away from the Timberwolves.

“Every year the playoffs are about adapting, whether it’s a game plan or an injury or a lineup, so we just have to adapt,” coach Steve Kerr said. “We’ve done this before, and we’re confident we can do this again.”

Game 2 is in Minneapolis tonight before the series moves west to San Francisco for Game 3 on Saturday and Game 4 on Monday. The earliest return for Curry appears to be Game 5 on May 14, which is conveniently followed by three straight off days before Game 6 on May 18.

Curry has never had a significant hamstring injury in his career, creating yet more mystery around the length of this absence and whether the Warriors can tread water long enough without the all-time leading 3-point shooter in NBA history to get him back near the end of the series. They’d be unwise to bank on that, though.

“Everybody is live. Everybody who comes into the game is looking to make plays,” Timberwolves guard Mike Conley said. “So you have to be almost even more so locked in on the game and who you’re matched up with and the tendencies. Because they’re not looking for just Curry. Obviously, Buddy is going to be more aggressive, Jimmy is going to be more aggressive, but they’ve got guys who can put the ball in the hole, and they may try to do that collectively as a group.”

Holiday receives honor

Jrue Holiday’s commitment to off-court work continues to be noticed and appreciated within the NBA.

Holiday, the Boston Celtics’ guard, was revealed Wednesday as the recipient of the league’s Social Justice Champion award for this season. The announcement came less than a week after Holiday won the league’s sportsmanship award for the second time his career.

The NBA will donate $100,000 to the Jrue and Lauren Holiday Social Impact Fund and he will receive the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Trophy. Holiday was selected from a group of finalists that also included Miami’s Bam Adebayo, San Antonio’s Harrison Barnes, Toronto’s Chris Boucher and New Orleans’ CJ McCollum.

The award, the NBA said, pays tribute to those who are “pursuing social justice and advancing Abdul-Jabbar’s life mission to engage, empower and drive equality for individuals and groups who have been historically disadvantaged.”

The fund started by Holiday and his wife Lauren, commonly called the JLH Fund, has distributed over $5.3 million in grants and delivered more than 400 hours of coaching and support to nearly 200 businesses across the U.S.

It was founded five years ago after Holiday, when he decided to play in the bubble during the 2019-20 season, pledged the $5 million that remained on his salary that season to help businesses and communities affected by systemic racism and economic injustice.

Ex-Laker hit with lawsuit

LOS ANGELES — A woman is suing former Los Angeles Lakers player and coach Byron Scott, accusing him of sexually assaulting her during a team event at her high school in 1987, when he was 26 and she was 15.

The lawsuit first filed in December 2022 and amended on May 1 accuses Scott of sexual battery and false imprisonment. Scott, 64, fought to have his name removed from court documents, but a judge denied his request to be identified only as “John Doe.” The updated complaint named him publicly for the first time.

During a visit from the Lakers, the alleged victim was attending summer classes at Campbell Hall High in Los Angeles when “she was sexually assaulted by Byron Scott in a locked janitor’s closet in the high school gymnasium,” according to the court filing. Scott was a Lakers player at the time.

The lawsuit was filed in 2022 under a California law that temporarily allowed older cases to be filed for underage plaintiffs. That law required the defendant to remain anonymous until certain thresholds were crossed.

Scott’s attorney, Linda Bauermeister, said her client doesn’t deny that sexual contact occurred, but maintains he thought the girl was of legal age. He was married to his first wife, Anita Scott, at the time of the alleged assault. They had three children and divorced in 2014.

The lawsuit said the alleged assault occurred in the summer of 1987

Knicks stun Celtics again

BOSTON — Mikal Bridges sealed another 20-point comeback with his second straight game-ending steal and the New York Knicks stunned the Boston Celtics again Wednesday night, winning 91-90 for an improbable 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Jalen Brunson scored 17 points for New York and made two free throws with 12.7 seconds left for a 91-90 lead. Jayson Tatum then couldn’t get to the rim and Bridges moved in to bat the ball away and recover it.

Bridges also scored all of his 14 points in the fourth quarter. Josh Hart had 23 points and Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 21 points and 17 rebounds for the Knicks, who will host Game 3 on Saturday.