Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry is targeting Sunday’s home game against the Houston Rockets for his possible return.
A league and team source confirmed the news. The 38-year-old has been out since January 30 with a right knee injury.
Curry’s Progress and Scrimmage
Curry went through his first full practice in two months on Tuesday. Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Curry was scheduled to take part in five-on-five scrimmaging after practice.
This was described as a significant step that Curry hasn’t been able to take since leaving a loss to the Detroit Pistons in January. The tentative plan is for him to return against the Rockets, so long as Curry continues to progress.
Kerr stated that the practice was “very light” and that they “didn’t do anything live”. He added, “He’s gonna scrimmage right now five-on-five. It’s a good step for him.”
Upcoming Games and Team Morale
Kerr told reporters that Curry will be out on Wednesday against the San Antonio Spurs. He is also “doubtful” for Thursday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. With two off days before the Rockets game, Kerr sounded cautiously optimistic about Curry being back this season.
The Warriors (36-39) are currently in 10th place in the Western Conference. They are trying to catch the ninth-place Portland Trail Blazers (38-38) to host their first Play-In game and have seven regular-season games remaining.
“We got to see how he responds to the scrimmage,” Kerr said. “And then we’ll just take it day by day. … It’s just a progression from here. If he’s feeling well, we’ll scrimmage again and we’ll just kinda go from there.” A team source later said Curry handled the scrimmage well, but his status will continue to be assessed daily.
Curry’s Determination to Return
Curry has been pushing behind the scenes to make a return. He was hopeful he would have a few games to get a rhythm before the start of the Play-In games on April 15. While Sunday’s game against the Rockets would leave five regular-season games for Curry, it’s unlikely he would play both sides of the Warriors’ final back-to-back next week (at home against the Lakers on April 9 and at Sacramento on April 10).
Warriors forward Gui Santos described the lift Curry’s presence brought to the rest of the group at Tuesday’s practice. “It’s amazing, man,” Santos said. “Just to have him out there with us, it’s always great. We have a lot more confidence when we have a guy like Steph on the court. There’s no doubt about it.”
Curry told The Athletic earlier this month he had no desire to sit out the rest of the season. He stated he would play whenever the training staff cleared him.
Returning on Sunday would give Curry a maximum of five games at the end of the regular season, although it seems unlikely he’d play both parts of a back-to-back next week.