Curry ruled out for at least 2 more games
Warriors guard Stephen Curry has been ruled out through Game 3 of the first round, the team announced Saturday morning.
Curry, who had his Grade 2 left MCL sprain evaluated Friday, is to be re-evaluated next Saturday. That would put his earliest possible return at Game 4 of the first round April 22 in San Antonio.
However, head coach Steve Kerr has repeatedly told reporters that he expects Curry to miss the entire first round. Curry appears on track to return for a potential Western Conference semifinals appearance.
During Friday’s practice, Curry worked through running and light-shooting drills. For a good chunk of the postpractice portion open to media, head trainer Chelsea Lane guided Curry through exercises with a resistance band. Per the team release, Curry will “intensify his oncourt rehabilitation in the coming days, which will include more running and lateral movement.”
“He’s on the court doing some stuff,” Kerr said. “He works with Chelsea every day, and when I got with Chelsea, she said he’s doing pretty well. I said, ‘Great.’ He goes and does his stuff, and we continue to prepare. When he’s ready, he’s ready. But he’s making good progress.”
With Curry limited to 25 total minutes over their final 17 regular-season games, the Warriors went 7-10. Curry, whose 51 games this regular season were his fewest since 2011-12, averaged 26.4 points, 6.1 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.6 steals.
In Curry’s absence Saturday, Kerr surprised many by starting Andre Iguodala at point guard over Quinn Cook. Iguodala had three points, seven rebounds and four assists in 23 minutes.
Iguodala update: On a drive to the basket late in the second quarter, Iguodala was kneed in the quad. Iguodala returned to the game for the start of the third, but Kerr said: “Obviously, he’ll get treatment and try to get better.” Shortened rotation: Kerr is known for digging deep into his bench, but his rotation was noticeably shorter than normal Saturday. Jordan Bell and Nick Young didn’t enter until garbage time, and Zaza Pachulia did not play.
“It’s just, you know, playoffs, generally speaking, you cut down a little bit,” Kerr said. “We had some combinations that we wanted to get to and, you know, that was Game 1 and things change in the playoffs. We all know that.”