Stephen Curry has not played since Jan. 30, when the Golden State Warriors lost 131-124 to the Detroit Pistons. Not only had Steph been dealing with some knee discomfort through the middle of the season, but he didn't look right after an awkward layup attempt in the third quarter of this game. Curry left the game not looking like himself and was later ruled out due to right knee soreness.
Since this moment, the Warriors have gone 2-3 without their leader and did expect that he would be ready to go after his extended absence into the All-Star break. However, head coach Steve Kerr revealed on Wednesday evening that Steph will not play on Thursday against the Boston Celtics coming out of the break, and it's possible that he could receive a second MRI to determine the exact nature of his knee soreness.
“Steph did not practice today,” Kerr told reporters in San Francisco, via ClutchPoints' Kenzo Fukuda. “He's going to be re-evaluated tonight by our training staff, but he just wasn't where he needed to be to go through the scrimmage. It's unfortunate, but we'll have an update tomorrow when he goes through his time with the training staff.”
Curry has been working behind the scenes and during the All-Star break to try to get back on the floor for the Warriors, yet his knee soreness still exists, and he didn't feel he was ready to go through a full practice.
Warriors continue to downplay Stephen Curry's knee injury
Over the last three weeks, Curry has been on the Warriors' injury report with right patellofemoral pain syndrome, also known as runner's knee, which typically takes days of extended rest and time to heal. Initially, the team was labeling Curry as day-to-day with his knee injury.
Friday will mark exactly three weeks since the injury occurred.
Despite Kerr's concerning announcement on Wednesday and Curry missing Thursday's game against the Celtics, the Warriors have continued to downplay Steph's knee ailment. The organization does not view this as a major concern heading into the final stretch run of the regular season, and the situation has been described as the franchise operating with an abundance of caution, team sources told ClutchPoints.
With the Warriors already being without Jimmy Butler for the remainder of the year and not being where they had hoped to be in the standings as a result, there is no room for error. That is why Golden State is exercising immense caution with Curry and will continue to wait for him to be 100 percent before getting back on the court.
Even so, Curry's knee health for the remainder of the season is not a concern at this moment for the Warriors, with sources relaying that he would be playing if the playoffs began today.
As the Warriors prepare for the end of the regular season, they find themselves 29-26 overall, three full games behind the Phoenix Suns for the 7-seed in the West standings. Although the Dubs continue to battle injury problems and hover around .500 on the year, the organization is still optimistic of its chances to compete for the 6-seed or better in the Western Conference.
With six games remaining against those currently ranked inside the top four of the West standings, there are plenty of opportunities for Golden State to prove itself as contending threats this season. Butler may be out for the year with his ACL injury, but the Warriors will be getting their first look at Kristaps Porzingis when he makes his debut on Thursday against Boston.
As for Curry, he will continue to receive treatment on his knee and hopes to return sooner rather than later. At this time, there is no clear timetable for when he will actually make his return, simply because this is a pain-tolerance injury based on his overall knee strength.
The Warriors understand that their playoff hopes are solely contingent on Curry's overall health, which is why he will not be rushed back into action.
In 39 games this season, Curry has averaged 27.2 points and 4.8 assists while shooting 46.8 percent from the floor and 39.1 percent from 3-point range. He once again leads the league in both 3-pointers made (4.5) and 3-pointers attempted (11.5) per game.
Thursday night will mark Curry's 17th absence of the season, meaning he will officially be ineligible for end-of-season honors and awards upon missing one more game.
