Golden State Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. said it would be a surprise if star guard Stephen Curry were forced to miss the remainder of the season due to his ongoing knee injury.
The Warriors’ season continued to slide Monday night with a 114-101 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, dropping Golden State to 31-30 and marking its second consecutive defeat. Curry has not played since Jan. 30 while dealing with what the team has described as “runner’s knee,” creating uncertainty around the timeline for his return.
In a report published Wednesday by Tim Kawakami of The San Francisco Standard, Dunleavy addressed the possibility of Curry being sidelined for the rest of the season.
“That’d be very surprising to me; very, very surprising,” Dunleavy said. “But I’m not going to rule anything out. I’m not a doctor and things can go a certain way. I don’t want the headline to be, ‘Steph may be done for the year’ because I’m not ruling it out. But just because he’s not playing right now, I just have to acknowledge that yeah, sure, there’s a chance. But we don’t expect that.”
Stephen Curry continues rehab while Warriors monitor knee injury timeline
Curry last appeared in the Warriors’ 131-124 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Jan. 30. The 37-year-old finished that game with 23 points, two assists, one rebound and one block in 25 minutes. He shot 7-for-16 from the field, 4-for-10 from 3-point range and 5-for-5 from the free-throw line.
Despite missing time, Curry has remained one of the league’s most productive scorers this season. Through 39 games, he is averaging 27.2 points, 4.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 46.8% from the field, 39.1% from beyond the arc and 93.1% from the free-throw line. He has logged 31.3 minutes per contest.
The Warriors provided a medical update Sunday indicating Curry continues to make progress.
“The re-evaluation concluded that Curry continues to make progress. He will be re-evaluated again in 10 days,” the team said.
Additional reporting has suggested the Warriors remain cautious with their franchise cornerstone as the regular season enters its final stretch.
ClutchPoints NBA insider Brett Siegel reported Tuesday:
“While the expectation was that Curry would return to the court after the All-Star break, the reality of his situation is that he was still dealing with right knee discomfort, which led to more rest and the Warriors conducting more imaging on his knee, which came back clean. Although he has been doing little behind the scenes, Steph has yet to go through a full, extensive workout on the court.”
Curry aiming to return before playoffs amid Warriors’ cautious approach
Siegel continued:
Having Steph available for the play-in tournament will be essential, as will ensuring he is 100 percent healthy for whoever they possibly face in a first-round playoff series.
That is why there is no rush to bring him back, and that is why sources say the earliest he would be back, but unlikely to return until after this date, is at the start of the Warriors' six-game road trip against the New York Knicks on Sunday, March 15.
To be perfectly honest, it may be in the Warriors' and Curry's best interest to shut things down indefinitely until after this road trip, as seven of the Dubs' final 10 games of the season will be in San Francisco. The Warriors have time since they aren't moving anywhere in the play-in standings, which is why Steph's return doesn't really matter right now.
As of right now, there have been zero conversations about the Warriors ruling Curry out for the rest of the season, and he, sources said, specifically wants to return before the playoffs to try and create some momentum for this team.”
For now, Golden State will attempt to halt its slide in the Western Conference standings without its star guard. The Warriors currently sit eighth in the conference as they begin a three-game road trip starting Thursday against the Houston Rockets at 4:30 p.m. PT on Prime Video.
