The Golden State Warriors aren’t closing the book on Steph Curry’s season just yet.
The Warriors this week ruled Curry out for two more games against the Washington Wizards on Friday and the Denver Nuggets on Sunday. The injury designation means that the 2-time MVP will now miss 25 games due to his lingering knee injury.
There have been questions about Golden State possibly shutting Curry down amid the team’s brutal injury luck this season. Starting wing Moses Moody was ruled out for the season after suffering a torn patellar tendon earlier in the week, joining Jimmy Butler on the injured list for the rest of the year.
However, the Warriors are reportedly still banking on getting Curry back in the lineup. According to a report from ESPN’s Anthony Slater and Shams Charania, the team will use the upcoming week to ramp up Curry’s on-court work with an eye toward a return. Golden State has yet to clear Steph for full 5-on-5 scrimmages, often considered the final step in an injured player’s return to the court.
The Warriors reportedly want to give Curry ample time to play himself back into game shape before the play-in tournament in a few weeks. According to Steve Kerr, giving Steph a proper ramp-up period to end the regular season will be a must for the star guard to avoid being shelved for the rest of the year.
“We’re not bringing him back (only) for the play-in game,” Kerr said. “He’d need to play some games. We need to give him a runway if this is going to work. And we are running out of games. That’s fair to say.”
The Warriors have gone 12-22 in games without Curry on the floor this season.
