The Golden State Warriors may only have to survive without The Chef for a couple more weeks.
There is “cautious optimism” that injured Warriors star Steph Curry will be returning to the lineup by the end of March, Shams Charania of ESPN reported on Wednesday. Charania notes that Curry had a “strong” on-court workout earlier this work and is beginning to run, cut, and take some slight contact.
Curry, who just turned 38 years old, is averaging 27.2 points per game on 47/39/93 shooting splits this season. But he has not played at all for Golden State since Jan. 30 due to a persistent right knee injury.
The knee injury for Curry has been described as unpredictable, and Warriors head coach Steve Kerr also provided a troubling update on him a few weeks ago. Such an issue is particularly concerning for Curry, who relies on constant motion the halfcourt in order to get open for shots.
But there may be an element of cautiousness at play for Golden State here. At 33-35, they are effectively locked into the play-in tournament as they are 8.5 games behind the No. 6 seed and 9.5 games ahead of the No. 11 seed. That means that they can exercise extreme prudence in getting Curry right since their place in the standings is extremely unlikely to change.
If Curry were to return by the end of March (the Warriors close out the month on the road against Denver on March 29), he would have eight full tune-up games left in the regular season before the play-in tournament. With Curry’s encouraging recent progression from his injury, it sounds like that is now the plan for Golden State after having gone 6-12 thus far in the former MVP’s absence.
