SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors’ best player is not expected to miss much time after leaving Friday’s 131-124 loss to the Pistons with a sore knee.

Steph Curry avoided major damage to his right knee, head coach Steve Kerr said after Saturday’s practice at Chase Center. Curry underwent an MRI, and his official diagnosis is patellofemoral syndrome, which commonly known as “runner’s knee.”

“He’s day to day,” Kerr said, later adding that the team will have to balance chasing wins with managing Curry’s health. “It will be something we really have to monitor, especially before the All-Star break, where we’ve got to see if he can take on his usual workload, or does he have to miss a game here or there.”

The Warriors are already lacking significant scoring punch on the perimeter. Jimmy Butler was lost for the season last week with a torn ACL, and trade candidate Jonathan Kuminga has been unable to play while battling a sore knee.Curry slowly limped back to the Warriors locker room at the 4:04 mark of the third quarter against the Pistons on Friday, shortly after finishing an and-1 layup over Ausar Thompson with 4:28 on the clock.

After the game, Curry was seen walking around the locker room with a limp, but had no ice or brace of any sort on that right knee.

Even though he is a little more than a month away from turning 38, Curry is still the best player on a team expected to be a major player in the trade market, which has a Feb. 5 deadline.

Curry leads the NBA in 3-pointers with 4.5 makes from distance per game. He was also recently voted an All-Star Game starter in his 12th appearance in the exhibition, which will take place in Inglewood in February.

Curry has dealt with injuries this season, missing 11 games, including Monday’s matchup in Minnesota, with inflammation in the right knee.

Curry needs to play at least 65 games to be eligible for postseason awards, which means he can miss only six more games this season.

Curry scored 23 points and made 4 of 10 3-pointers in 25 minutes on Friday. Golden State found a way to remain competitive with the top team in the Eastern Conference without their leader on the floor.

De’Anthony Melton scored 18 points in a smidge more than 25 minutes, while Gui Santos put up 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Golden State relied on a balanced offense to remain in the game, with eight players reaching double-figures in scoring.

The Warriors outscored the Pistons 29-23 in the fourth quarter without their superstar, with Brandin Podziemski putting up 11 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists at shooting guard.

But without Curry warping the defense, the Warriors just did not have the juice to pull out the improbable comeback from down 20 in the second half.

Cade Cunningham showed why he is an All-Star by piling up 29 points and 11 assists for the Pistons, who improved to an Eastern Conference-best 35-12.

The Warriors dropped to 27-23, and will have two additional days off before playing Philadelphia in San Francisco on Tuesday.

The Sixers will be without Paul George, who was suspended 25 games by the league for drug use. George was coming off a 32-point, nine-rebound game and a 15-point, five-assist effort in his most recent appearances.

In other Curry injury news, the Warriors announced that Steph’s younger brother, Seth, will be reevaluated in two weeks as he comes back from a bout with sciatica. Kerr added that Kuminga’s sore knee is improving, but did not know if Kuminga would play on Tuesday.