CURRY TESTS HAND IN SANTA CRUZ PRACTICE
Point guard who could return on Thursday has hits, misses
SANTA CRUZ >> Fifteen minutes into his post-practice shooting routine, Steph Curry slipped off his royal blue jersey, revealing a white T-shirt that read “SANTA CRUZ BASKETBALL” on the front.
That blue jersey was the one he wore in Monday’s 5-on-5 scrimmage with the Warriors’ G League affiliate at Kaiser Permanente Arena, his first since undergoing two procedures to repair a broken bone in his left hand, and an important step in his eventual return.
“The real thing is getting bumped around, the physicality of the game, setting screens, fighting over screens, maybe jamming that hand on a fall,” Santa Cruz head coach Kris Weems said. “You have to have those things to feel like you’re ready to go, so hopefully we gave him that.”
“Whenever they deem him ready to play, he’ll be ready to go.”
Though Curry did not return to the Warriors’ lineup on Sunday as he had hoped, the 31-yearold guard could return as early as Thursday against the Raptors. For those involved in the scrimmage, Curry left a positive impression.
Weems separated his roster into two groups — Curry captained the Blue team and forward Jonathon Simmons headed the
Gold team — for a session that lasted for three 7-minute quarters.
Early in the scrimmage, Weems called a high screen for Curry in order to get the two-time MVP an easy shot. But, before Curry’s teammate could arrive in time to set the screen, Curry pulled up from nearly halfcourt and drained a 3-pointer. “Nevermind,” Weems told the would-be screen-setter.
Later on, with his defender tightly guarding him, Curry side-stepped into a 3-pointer in the left corner.
Though Curry also missed several open shots, he didn’t hesitate to shoot or make plays for others. With only a few seconds left, his Blue team down by one in what was a competitive scrimmage, Weems called the final shot for Curry: another high screen.
Curry took the inbound and darted toward the screen, but Gold team’s Jeremy Pargo ran him off the 3-point line and toward the basket, where Simmons and another big were waiting to contest his shot. With three players on him, Curry pulled up from mid-range, but his shot rimmed out. Blue fell to Gold, 49-48.
Ultimately, it was the job of Weems and his staff to get Curry ready for a return. In Santa Cruz, the Warriors played Curry physically. They bumped him off his spots, showed him different defenses and forced him to guard bigger players.
Though Curry was frustrated that he couldn’t play in Sunday’s loss to the Wizards, Golden State wanted him to participate in this sort of scrimmage — one that would more closely resemble the game action that awaits him after a fourmonth absence.
Since he suffered a broken bone in his left hand against Phoenix on Oct. 30, Curry has worked through a meticulous rehab to regain the strength and feeling in his surgically-repaired left hand.
Following the failed gamewinner, Curry went through 90 minutes of shooting drills with player development coach Seth Cooper and consulted with Golden State’s Director of Sports Medicine and Performance Dr. Rick Celebrini.
As he went through his drills on one end of the single court in the 2,505 capacity arena, his temporary teammates worked on the other basket. A few feet from Curry was a banner that listed all of the team’s G League call-ups over the years — including names like Damion Lee, Seth Curry and Quinn Cook.