SAN FRANCISCO — Saturday could mark the reunion of the Warriors’ championship core, with Stephen Curry on track to be available for Game 1 of the playoffs barring any setbacks.
Curry played 18 minutes — divided into three six-minute segments — in the Warriors’ scrimmage Thursday, and there’s a growing belief that the superstar guard will be available Saturday, though he’ll play under a minutes restriction.
“Everything about it was awesome,” Curry said of the team’s scrimmage. “Every step has been in the right direction in terms of trying to get back out there. I’ve never enjoyed practice so much.”
Curry, who participated in the team’s first postseason practice without any modifications Wednesday, said he’s “hoping” he’ll be cleared for the first game of the best-of-seven series against the Denver Nuggets. He’s not quite at 100% after suffering a sprained ligament and bone bruise in his left foot month and is still experiencing some mild “pain or discomfort.”
Curry believes he’s far enough along in the recovery process, where the bone bruise, an injury the team revealed just this week that tends to cause lingering discomfort, won’t be a major issue.
“Hopefully I’m passed that hurdle,” Curry said. “Hopefully by Saturday, I can kind of put it behind me.”
There are bound to be challenges for any player coming back from an injury that kept them out for several weeks, but the Warriors aren’t too worried about Curry, who has a track record of rebounding rather quickly from injuries — especially around playoff time. Neither is Curry.
“There’s no real concern I’ll be a step slower, I’ll be out there exhausted in the first two or three minutes whenever you do get back because I have been through it, I know the work that goes into it,” said Curry, who suffered knee sprains that sidelined him for parts of the 2016 and 2018 playoffs. “I can push myself once I get that green light to get back on the floor.”
Curry has “high confidence” he can return to his previous form despite potentially having only two practices and 18 minutes worth of a team scrimmage under his belt after missing a month due to his injury. Coach Steve Kerr attributed that confidence to his wealth of experience and work ethic that helped him maintain his conditioning over the last month.
“A lot of guys scrimmage 18 minutes after being out a month would get winded after two minutes. Steph is in such great shape, he has such an incredible foundation of condition that he’s able to maintain his wind even during his absences,” Kerr said. “With that comes a belief and confidence in what he’s doing that is almost unrivaled. So when he does go back out there he just thinks he’s going to be great and he is.”
If Curry is available Saturday, his minutes will be restricted, though he and Kerr said those conversations remain ongoing.
“I’m not worried about it being a limiting factor in terms of how I’m going to approach the game,” said Curry, who’s going to push for more playing time if he feels good. “Hopefully there’s a little wiggle room with whatever that is to see how I feel out there.”
If Curry is cleared, Saturday would be the first time he would join Andre Iguodala, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson on the court this season. Iguodala was sidelined with an injury in early March when Green, Thompson and Curry played a whopping 11 minutes together.
One game after Draymond returned and declared the Warriors were “going to win a championship,” Curry went down with a foot injury in the second quarter of Golden State’s home loss to the Boston Celtics on March 16.
Curry missed the final 12 games of the season, during which the Warriors went 6-6.
Kerr believes the Warriors established some confidence heading into the postseason as they closed the regular season with a five-game win streak.
“Hopefully getting Steph back would add to that, hopefully we will get him back to which case we’ll have a much better chance of withstanding scoring lulls,” Kerr said. “I feel good about it, I feel excited about it with full awareness that it’s not going to be easy.”
