The Golden State Warriors have been cascading down the Western Conference standings in recent weeks in the prolonged injury absence of Stephen Curry, who has not played since well before the All-Star break with a lingering knee injury. That losing continued on Tuesday with a rough home loss at the hands of the Chicago Bulls in overtime.
Recently, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr spoke on Curry's state of mind as the absence continues.
“He’s frustrated,” Kerr told 95.7 The Game’s “Willard & Dibs” on Wednesday, per Nick Avila of NBC Sports Bay Area. “He wants to be out there for his guys. It’s obviously been an injury that’s lasted a lot longer than anyone thought it would. He’s dying to be out there, but there’s not a whole lot that goes into it.
“We’re just following the training staff’s lead and Rick Celebrini’s advice. We’re just trying to give him the best chance to come back and stay healthy and finish the season strongly.”
The Warriors currently sit at 32-33 on the season, and would be in the play-in tournament for a third straight year if the season ended today. While the Western Conference landscape makes it so that falling below the play-in line would be virtually impossible at this point, it's still not a possibility that the Warriors will want to flirt with.
Curry had been playing some elite basketball for Golden State prior to the injury, but the team has predictably fallen off dramatically in his absence, which hasn't been helped by the fact that Jimmy Butler is out for the year with a torn ACL, and trade acquisition Kristaps Porzingis has appeared in just three games so far for the Dubs, as he deals with a lingering illness.
The Warriors will next take the floor on Friday evening against the struggling Minnesota Timberwolves.
