SAN FRANCISCO– After missing 27 consecutive games due to lingering knee issues, Golden State Warriors' star Stephen Curry has finally been cleared to return Sunday against the Houston Rockets, the team announced.
“He's officially listed as questionable,” Kerr said after the Dubs' Saturday practice. “The plan is for him to play. He's got to feel it tomorrow, but yeah, we'll keep him as questionable.”
Curry made significant progress this past week in his recovery from patellofemoral pain syndrome and bone bruising in his right knee, participating in his first live 5-on-5 scrimmage this week, which was the main hurdle to his path back onto the court.
Before this week, Curry and the Warriors made attempts to get him the necessary physical ramp-up and reps that a scrimmage provides after the Warriors' loss in Atlanta, but medical staff prevented him from doing so out of caution. But things took a turn for the better this past week. Curry was a full participant in the Warriors' Tuesday practice and subsequently went through his first live 5-on-5 scrimmage since his knee injury arose. Curry then got in another scrimmage on Thursday and looked good, according to Steve Kerr and his teammates.
The Warriors have gone 9-18 since Curry went down, falling from the eighth seed all the way down to 10th. And in that stretch, Golden State suffered a serious storm of injuries, including a season-ender to Moses Moody. The Warriors will now have to win two road play-in games to make the postseason.
To say the Warriors have missed Curry is an understatement.
“You cannot measure it, brother,” Santos said after the loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. “For me, he's the greatest of all time… just the fact that he's on the court opens up a lot of space for everybody else to play. That's going to be great to have him back for us.”
Stephen Curry is determined to return to the Warriors
Despite the Warriors' season falling apart, Curry and the Warriors maintained their desire to bring him back throughout the lengthy recovery process.
With fans and reporters questioning whether or not the Warriors should punt on the season in order to obtain a coveted lottery pick in a loaded draft class, Kerr said on numerous occasions that's not what the Warriors organization does.
“It's not what we do,” Kerr said earlier this week. “We just compete. That's the job. And, you know, Steph's in the final stages of his career. He has a chance to compete in the playoffs. He's going to want to, and our group's going to want to.”
And behind the scenes, Curry's remained extremely motivated to make a return to the court, despite championship aspirations looking rather unrealistic.
“That’s not who we are,” Curry told The Athletic back in March. “If we have stuff to play for, we play. So, I’m working to get back.”
Curry's return comes at just the right time as Kerr and the team said he would need a “runway” of games to prepare for the intensity of play-in games. Curry will look to reacclimate over the five remaining regular-season games as they prepare for a potential Cinderella playoff push.
“He just brings hope to everybody,” Kerr said. “And so the sun is shining a little brighter. Food tastes a little better.”
