Should Warriors shut Steph Curry down until NBA play-in? –NBC Sports Bay Area & California
The look forward to Steph Curry’s return from proper patellofemoral ache syndrome continues.
Curry in the course of the Warriors’ blowout loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday evening told ESPN’s Malika Andrews “It’s going to be a little longer.” The Warriors on Sunday offered the latest update on Currysaying he once more will likely be re-evaluated in one other 10 days.
For the Warriors, Curry is “making progress” and can miss at the very least 5 extra video games earlier than the subsequent replace.
He missed all of February, a month the place the Warriors performed 10 video games, and final performed on Jan. 30 in a loss to the Detroit Pistons. Curry needed to go away that sport with 4 minutes left within the third quarter due to his continued points from what’s extra generally generally known as “runner’s knee.” The Warriors went 4-6 in February and are actually 8-13 with out Curry in the course of the 2025-26 NBA season.
Predicting when Curry will return is a waste of everybody’s time. After lacking 5 consecutive video games main as much as the NBA All-Star break, the hope was Curry would return within the Warriors’ first sport again on Feb. 19 towards the Boston Celtics. But a setback understanding in the course of the break halted him and reset Curry’s clock.
Caution is the one reply for Curry and the Warriors the best way the season has gone. Curry has performed at an elite stage when wholesome and was named to his twelfth NBA All-Star Game and 11th as a starter. He possible would have made an All-NBA crew if he did not change into ineligible since he will not attain the 65-game minimal necessities.
The Warriors are 31-29 after their 28-point loss to the Lakers and have been the No. 8 seed for almost three months now. At this level, the actual query is, ought to the Warriors maintain Curry out until their inevitable date with the NBA play-in match?
Golden State’s preseason aim of being a top-six seed within the Western Conference is gone. Warriors coach Steve Kerr admitted Saturday night that it is one thing he and his crew do not even discuss anymore. There’s no want, and he is aware of it.
“It’s a lot to make up with 22 games left. … It’s not anything that is worth discussing because we just have to try to go out and win and see what happens,” Kerr mentioned.
Going into Sunday, the Warriors are 4.5 video games again of the Lakers for the No. 6 seed. That hole can rise to 5 video games by the tip of Sunday evening after the Lakers’ sport in Los Angeles towards the Sacramento Kings. The Warriors are three video games behind the No. 7-seed Phoenix Suns, who’re at the moment down Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks. For how tough leaping into the highest six and out of the play-in match could be for the Warriors, it is just about inconceivable they fall out of the highest 10.
The No. 10-seeded Los Angeles Clippers play the 19-win New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday evening. They’re 4 video games behind the Warriors within the win column going into that sport, and the Clippers are also Golden State’s subsequent opponent Monday evening. More importantly, no one beneath the Clippers or the No. 9-seeded Portland Trail Blazers are going to maneuver forward of them.
Although Curry says he is feeling higher, he additionally is aware of the unpredictability of his damage. Curry nonetheless hasn’t been on the courtroom but. He has discovered different methods to remain in form, however that is an enormous distinction. He nonetheless has hurdles to clear and as soon as he is again on the courtroom the largest impediment will likely be ache tolerance.
“It’s just something that you don’t want to have lingering because it can get worse,” Curry mentioned.
Curry badly desires to rejoin the Warriors and assist them make the NBA playoffs. Weighing danger and reward should lean tenfold to the latter.
His co-star, Jimmy Butler, is out for the remainder of the season, and the Warriors have not gained consecutive video games since his torn ACL on Jan. 19. Draymond Green has handled decrease again issues, and his production has dipped dramatically. The Warriors acquired 7-foot-3 huge man Kristaps Porziņģis on the NBA commerce deadline, and he made his crew debut within the first sport after the All-Star break. He hasn’t performed since due to what the Warriors are listed as an illness.
Several younger position gamers like Moses Moody, Gui Santos and Brandin Podziemski, in addition to veterans De’Anthony Melton and Al Horford, have strung collectively some stable performances in Curry’s absence. But the Warriors are additionally simply too devoid of top-end expertise with out Curry and Butler. They aren’t contending and so they aren’t tanking, dwelling as an alternative on Mediocrity Lane.
Shutting Curry down fully is not an possibility, and he would not permit it until pushed to the sting. The subsequent sport Curry may return is March 13 towards the Minnesota Timberwolves, which might be lower than a month until the tip of the common season. Circling that as a return date would not be clever.
Curry should get at the very least one scrimmage in earlier than the Warriors even take into consideration unleashing him. Starting with March 13, the Warriors can have 17 video games left within the common season. The greatest guess is Curry ramps up and performs a handful of video games however by no means either side of the 4 back-to-backs the Warriors have left after his subsequent replace.
So, ought to the Warriors preserve him on ice until the play-in match? It’s not in its character to increase the boundaries of warning. Yet the Warriors have to evangelise the significance of subsequent season being the larger precedence whereas staying current within the second and being the naked minimal of a aggressive crew that Curry fits up for.
