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The 2021-22 NBA regular season is now over, and the Golden State Warriors secured the No. 3 seed and a first-round matchup against the sixth-seeded Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs. The big question on everybody's mind is if Warriors star Stephen Curry will be back for Game 1, which will take place on Saturday night.
Before Sunday night's regular-season finale, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr was asked about Curry's status for the playoffs. Unfortunately, Kerr wouldn't give a definitive answer, instead offering up a somewhat cryptic response:
Steve Kerr on Steph Curry: "There's a chance he could be ready for Game 1, there's a chance he could not." Said the Warriors will know more as he gets on the court over the next few days. Warriors should get in practices Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) April 11, 2022
Steve Kerr adds that he imagines "it'll go down to the wire" regarding Steph Curry's Game 1 availability. Warriors will get in a high intensity scrimmage at some point during the upcoming week.
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) April 11, 2022
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Perhaps Kerr is engaging in a bit of gamesmanship here, but this will still surely make Warriors fans sweat about Curry's status. The Warriors star hasn't played since March 16 because of a foot injury suffered when Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart dove into his legs while going after a loose ball.
Golden State slumped badly in the immediate aftermath of Curry's injury, but the team is heading into the playoffs on a high note. The Warriors finished the regular season on a five-game winning streak, with Klay Thompson exploding for 41 points. Thompson really found his groove to close the season out, bringing plenty of optimism for the Dubs' championship hopes if Curry comes back healthy.
Of course, Curry actually has to come back healthy, and it's still unclear when that will be. Beating Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets would be tough even with a healthy Curry, so either not having him for part of the series or having a hobbled Curry could be problematic.
Curry will use this week of practice to ramp things up and hopefully be ready to go for Saturday.
