HOUSTON - Golden State's Stephen Curry will miss Game 3 of a first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets on Thursday night because of a sprained right ankle.

It will be the second straight game that last year's MVP has missed after he was injured in the series opener.

Coach Steve Kerr said that Curry wanted to go on Thursday, but that it was an easy decision to sit him again after they weighed the pros and cons of him playing.

"Without having done anything for four days, no conditioning, no rhythm, no actual live contact, it would have been irresponsible, I think, to put him out there," Kerr said.

Kerr said that Curry was better on Thursday and that they hope he will be able to play in Game 4 on Sunday. The team doctor, training staff and Kerr spoke with Curry after shootaround Thursday and made the decision.

"His thought was that he would be OK," Kerr said. "We just felt a lot more comfortable putting him through 3-on-3 tomorrow, probably a 5-on-5 on Saturday and really seeing if he's OK or not. It wasn't worth the risk if we had put him out there tonight and he had re-injured it."

Shaun Livingston will start in Curry's place after also starting for him in Game 3. The Warriors overcame Curry's absence to get a 115-106 victory in the first game he missed and take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Kerr said they will have a better feel for his availability for Sunday after they see how he responds to the next two days of practice.