Kerr: No way Curry plays in first round
Star will have sprained knee reevaluated in three weeks
OAKLAND >> The timeline indicates that Warriors guard Stephen Curry will remain sidelined for at least three weeks to close out the regular season. Common sense also suggests Curry will stay out even when the playoffs start.
“There’s no way he’s playing in the first round,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
The Warriors said they will reevaluate Curry in three weeks after an MRI taken on Saturday showed a Grade 2 MCL sprain in his left knee. That timelines coincides with when the NBA playoffs start on April 14.
After he walked with a slight limp to
the press conference room, Curry offered a different sentiment.
“Hopefully I prove what Coach said wrong and put myself in a position to get back as soon as possible,” Curry said before Sunday’s game against the Utah Jazz at Oracle Arena. “Right now, who knows? I’ll just try to do my job in the rehab process, get back as soon as I can and control my presence with the team and help anyway I can when I’m out on the floor.”
Curry became encouraged about his recovery for two reasons. He does not need to walk with crutches. He also has perspective after suffering a Grade 1 MCL sprain in his right knee that caused him to miss six games in the 2016 NBA playoffs. He said “it don’t matter” whether he returned early from that injury, which arguably contributed to sluggish play as the Warriors squandered a 3-1 Finals series lead to Cleveland. Nonetheless, Curry said that rehab process will give him insight on how he has progressed in reaching “different checkpoint marks.”
“It’s a matter of your perspective. It could be worse. Count that as a blessing,” Curry said. “I don’t think any of this is going to shake our ultimate goal in winning a championship. At that point, we’ll look back at these incidents and kind of laugh about them. At the end of the day, they can make us stronger, give us a sense of urgency and jolt the system as we go into the playoffs.”
Kerr offered similar optimism for other reasons.
He mentioned Durant, who also suffered
an MCL sprain in his left knee along with a bone bruise last season. He missed 19 regular-season games before returning for the final three. He then missed the first two playoffs games because of a calf strain. The Warriors, along with Durant, managed just fine before eventually winning the NBA title in five games over Cleveland.
“There’s a lot of similarities here. So we should feel good about our ability to play through this stuff,” Kerr said. “We also know Steph has a history of coming back strong from injuries. There’s a good chance he comes back during the playoffs at some point and we’re at full steam.”
After missing 11 games earlier this season because of his initial sprained right ankle, Curry posted a teamleading 38 points, while shooting 13of-17 from the field, setting a seasonhigh 10-of-13 mark from 3-point range along with posting four rebounds and three assists on Dec. 30 against Memphis. Curry also scored 40 points off the bench in 37 minutes in the Warriors’ Game 6 overtime win over Portland in the 2016 NBA playoffs after missing the previous six games because of a Grade 1 MCL sprain to his right knee.
“We have to be ready to play without him and see how he’s coming along,” Kerr said. “The good thing is we’ve been through this.”
Curry did not exactly share those sentiments right away after suffering the injury on Friday against Atlanta.
Curry initially heard a fan yell out “Where are the high tops?” in reference to Curry wearing low-cut Under Armour shoes. Curry admitted the injury made his wife’s 29th “birthday a little tough” with Stephen and Ayesha’s post-game plans suddenly becoming spoiled. Curry also considered the incident “frustrating” after missing the previous six games because of his fourth right ankle injury of the season.
Still, Curry said he “stayed positive through it all.” His initial thought: “Thank God it’s not my ankle.” His initial level of pain: “I didn’t feel like it was a season-ending thing.”
“It definitely helps knowing how my body responds to being out for an extended period of time and having to come back in pressure situations and high intensity playoff games,” Curry said. “Hopefully I can get as close to 100 percent as possible.”