Golden State Warriors superstar guard Stephen Curry will miss at least one more week as he continues to try to return before the end of the regular season from a lingering right knee injury, which has been labeled as patella-femoral pain syndrome/bone bruising.
The team announced on Friday evening that they will continue to evaluate Curry's progress as he ramps up his activities and begins participating in live 5-on-5 scrimmages in the coming days. He will be re-evaluated again in one week before a decision is made on his potential return during the regular season.
Along with providing an update on Curry, the Warriors also revealed the latest updates on Al Horford, Seth Curry, and Quinten Post.
Horford, who has missed seven straight games with a strained right soleus, is making good progress and will continue his daily off-court rehab routine. The good news surrounding the veteran big man is that he has been cleared for light on-court workouts and will be re-evaluated again in one week.
As for Seth Curry and Post, the Warriors say both players are now listed as day-to-day with left adductor and right foot injuries, respectively.
Steph has been sidelined since January 30, when he first sustained his right knee injury in a 131-124 loss to the Detroit Pistons, missing each of the Warriors' last 23 games.
In this span without Curry, the team has gone 8-15 and has fallen to the 10-seed in the Western Conference playoff picture.
When will Stephen Curry return?
Throughout his lengthy, ongoing rehab process, the Warriors and Curry have maintained the same mindset of him returning this season and not keeping him sidelined for the rest of the year.
Despite all of the team's injury concerns, specifically Jimmy Butler's and recently, Moses Moody's, this mindset has not changed. Whether or not Curry will actually return to the court in time for the end of the regular season will be solely dependent on how his right knee responds to treatment and participating in live scrimmages over the next week.
Assuming he doesn't suffer any setbacks or ongoing knee pain, the Warriors will clear Curry to play again, possibly as soon as the team's home game on April 5 against the Houston Rockets. Nonetheless, he will miss at least four more games before a decision is made on his immediate future.
Initially, the Warriors did not view Curry's injury as a long-term concern, as he was expected to get back on the court after the All-Star break in February. As a result of ongoing pain and swelling in his right knee, Curry did not return after the All-Star break, and his status remained up in the air week-after-week.
After traveling with the team on their recent six-game road trip, the hope was that Steph would be able to participate in live scrimmages on Sunday, March 22, before the team's road game against the Atlanta Hawks. However, Curry did not partake in said scrimmage in order to give his knee extra time to rest and heal.
The Warriors remained adamant that he did not suffer any setbacks, and this was all a part of his return to play process. There was also some internal hope that he would be available to play this past week against either the Brooklyn Nets or the Washington Wizards, but this did not happen either.
Following Friday night's game against the Wizards, the Warriors will have eight games remaining on their schedule, and Curry is already scheduled to miss the first four matchups. Whether he will, in fact, return before the play-in tournament or at all this season is yet to be determined.
In 39 games this season, Curry has averaged 27.2 points, 4.8 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game while shooting 46.8 percent from the floor and 39.1 percent from 3-point range. His 39 games are Curry's fewest since playing only five games during the 2019-20 season, and the team has gone 12-22 in their 24 games without Steph this season.
