Warriors’ Curry cleared to return to lineup tonight against Toronto
SAN FRANCISCO >> Warriors guard Steph Curry has been cleared to return for tonight’s game against the Raptors, a league source confirmed with Bay Area News Group on Wednesday night.
Curry will return from a 58game absence after suffering
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Raptors at Warriors, today, 7:30 p.m., TNT
a broken bone in his left hand against the Suns on Oct. 30. Over the last four months, he has undergone two surgeries and the longest in-season rehab of his career.
The decision to clear Curry, 31, comes two days after he participated in his first 5-on-5 scrimmage with the Warriors’ G League affiliate in Santa Cruz on Monday. He had previously targeted a return on Sunday, but Golden State wanted him to go through a full, game-like scrimmage before clearing him to play. The news was first reported by The Athletic.
It is expected that Curry will start tonight but will likely be held to a minutes restriction.
His return will provide up to 20 games for Curry to test his nerve-damaged left hand and build some chemistry with his new teammates before a pivotal offseason.
The game against the Raptors at Chase Center is nationally televised on TNT.
Though his return will mark an achievement, it is hardly the end of the process. Curry will not only need to get accustomed to playing with a left hand that sustained nerve damage, he’ll also need to get accustomed to playing with new teammates, and losing at a rate he hasn’t experienced since the dark days of 2011.
Here are some of the biggest questions the Warriors will face when he returns. HOW DOES HE IMPACT THE STARTING LINEUP? >> In Tuesday’s win against the Denver Nuggets, the Warriors used their 32nd different starting lineup of this injury-plagued season. For Curry to be able to develop some chemistry with his new teammates, coach Steve Kerr will have to hope his team can stay healthy enough to establish a more consistent rotation.
With Draymond Green (left knee soreness) and Kevon Looney (hip) sidelined in Denver, the Warriors started Damion Lee, Mychal Mulder, Andrew Wiggins, Juan ToscanoAnderson and Marquese Chriss. Only two of those players — Wiggins and Chriss — are locks to start alongside Curry.
It would be simple enough to slot Curry into Mulder’s spot and Green into Toscano-Anderson’s, giving the Warriors a starting lineup of Curry, Lee, Wiggins, Green and Chriss. The other option would be to send Lee to the bench and start Toscano-Anderson — a better defender who has made 42% of his 3-pointers — who could more closely mimic Klay Thompson’s role.
Meanwhile, Eric Paschall, who has come off the bench for the last four games despite the Warriors having only eight or nine players available, should continue to play a reserve role, as well as Jordan Poole and Looney.
DOES CURRY FALL BACK
INTO HIS COMFORT ZONE WITH GREEN? >> Of Curry’s 11 assisted field goals this season, Green accounted for six, more than all of Curry’s other teammates combined.
Though it’s understandable that Curry relied on Green to start a season without previous mainstays like Thompson, Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston, an important part of the rest of the season is Curry getting used to playing with 10 players who were not on the 2019-20 roster (and six who were not in Golden State to start the season).
The sort of chemistry those players had was built up over multiple seasons and extended playoff runs. After the Warriors stumbled to a 1-2 start, it’s telling that in Curry’s last game against Phoenix, all three of his field goals involved Green, while the rest of his teammates stood around the perimeter.
Curry wasn’t used to losing games, and still isn’t. Yes, the Warriors have the worst record in the league, but Curry has played all the way through only two of those losses.
Kerr and the rest of the Warriors have already accepted that this season is not about winning but, rather, development. There will be times Curry needs to eschew the easy two-man game with Green and exercise some kind of cadence with his new teammates. It will take time, mistakes and patience.
CAN HE MAKE WIGGINS BETTER? >> Of Curry’s new teammates, none is more important to the future of the Warriors than Wiggins. The fit between Curry and D’Angelo Russell wasn’t all bad, but it was forced. The Warriors believe that, by swapping Russell for Wiggins before the trade deadline, they acquired a more natural fit with Curry, Thompson and Green.
Since arriving, Wiggins has been asked to play engaged defense, run the floor and hit spot-up jumpers as the Warriors project his role next to their foundational pieces. That will be his job description when Curry returns.
Specifically, Wiggins is an elite off-ball cutter with great feel and timing — he scores on cuts at a 79% clip, a mark that ranks in the top 10% of players in the league. He will have even more space to get to the rim when Curry is stretching defenses 30 feet away from the basket.
“I scrimmaged with Steph one time already and he made the game fun and easy for everybody,” Wiggins said. “So I’m excited.”
Defensively, Wiggins should also make the game easier for Curry in a way Russell could not. In the last three games, Kerr has slotted Wiggins on the opponent’s point guard, testing the 25-year-old’s ability to guard on the ball. If he can keep doing that, it will take the pressure off Curry to do it when he returns.
WHO ELSE FITS “THE PUZZLE?”>> Paschall emerged as a go-to scoring option early this season, but only after Curry’s injury. He is a strong isolation scorer who, with time, can bully his way through a defense and get to his spots.
But next season, he won’t have as many opportunities. Curry and Thompson combine to take almost 40 shots per game, so Paschall will have to find other ways to contribute. Chief among those is becoming a threat in the pick-and-roll and on the offensive glass.
With a 6-foot-6, 255-pound frame, Paschall has the build of a downhill rim-runner. However, as a rookie, he is averaging only 0.9 screen assists per game, fewer than Green (1.6) and Golden State’s other bigs, and just 0.8 points per game as a roll man.
Paschall also hasn’t always been engaged on the glass this season, averaging just more than one offensive rebound per game. He has the strength to gain position and, when he’s committed to following a missed shot, he usually has success.
These are the ways Paschall can generate points when he doesn’t start the possession with the ball in his hands. If he can put it all together, he has a chance to be Golden State’s sixth man next season. If not, he may be relegated to a scoring role off the bench.
Unlike Paschall, Poole struggled to start his rookie season. However, he might be the team’s most improved player, and even started several games at point guard.
Originally thought of as a catch-and-shoot specialist, Poole has recently been put in a playmaking position that better uses his skill set. His shooting percentages and assist numbers have increased, and there seems to be a clear role for him once this team is healthy.
At center, Chriss is an ideal fit to play next to Curry. A natural passer and good screener who runs the floor well, he earned a spot on the team largely due to his preseason chemistry with Curry.
Among the other free agents to-be on the roster, Toscano-Anderson has a chance of earning a contract for next season, as does Mulder, who will likely earn a second 10-day contract when his current one expires.
Toscano-Anderson is a smart offensive player and versatile defender. Kerr has tested his ability to guard all-pro scorers such as Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, suggesting the team is interested in bringing him back next season.
“It’s all going to be who fits into the puzzle and how we play together,” Kerr said. “I think we’re starting to see some of those pictures start to clarify.
“It’ll be fun getting Steph back soon and being able to allow the guys to play with him and see what that feels like and start to see what that will look like next year.”