Curry won’t make it back onto court tonight in return from broken hand; team eyes Thursday.
PHOENIX >> Stephen Curry won’t return today from a broken left hand that has sidelined him for nearly four months. The earliest he could return is Thursday, when the Warriors play the Raptors at Chase Center.
Curry and the Warriors had set today’s game
against the Wizards as a target for his return, but the team announced Saturday that he is making positive progress in his rehab and “remains on schedule for a return to play at some point in March.”
After recently participating in two light scrimmages, Curry will practice with the Warriors’ G League affiliate in Santa Cruz on Monday.
“We needed a higher level of scrimmage for Steph to be a part of,” coach Steve Kerr said Saturday. He had previously expressed his desire for Curry to scrimmage more before returning to game action.
“The Santa Cruz option is perfect. Dealing with a group of guys who are in the middle of their season. This is a much better gauge for him.”
Asked how Curry took the news that he would not play today, Kerr said: “He
was not thrilled. But Steph is always very rational and easy to speak with.
“He put up a little bit of a fight, but also understood why we wanted to take extra precaution. So he’s OK with it.”
According to Kerr, the Warriors’ training staff is not concerned with Curry re-injuring his hand, though the 31-year-old guard is still experiencing nerve damage that results in occasional numbness.
“It is going to feel different,” Curry said after a recent scrimmage. “So I’m just trying to, functionally speaking, when I’m out there on the court, not think about it.”
After two surgeries, Curry started light oncourt work two months ago before advancing to contact drills and scrimmages earlier this month.
During that time, the Warriors’ training staff and coaches put him through a specialized strength-and-conditioning program before he scrimmaged for the first time last week.
While Curry is in Santa Cruz, Golden State will travel to Denver for Tuesday’s game against the Nuggets, which Curry has already been ruled out of.
Since Curry was injured in a collision with Suns center Aron Baynes on Oct. 30, Golden State has lost 44 of its 55 games and sunk to the bottom of the league standings in what has become a lotterybound season.
Though the Warriors have little to play for other than favorable position to land the No. 1 pick in May’s NBA Draft lottery, they intend to let Curry play alongside several new teammates and test his left hand in game action.
A return Thursday would allow Curry to play up to 20 games to end the season.