LOS ANGELES >> Stephen Curry was back on the court Tuesday for a workout as the Warriors reconvened in Los Angeles following the All-Star break, but that wasn’t a sign that his return to game action was imminent.
The Warriors provided an official update on Curry on Wednesday afternoon, saying he’s making progress in his recovery from a ligament sprain in his lower left leg, but not quite ready to play in a game.
Curry will be re-evaluated in a week, ruling him out for at least Golden State’s next four games.
Prior to the All-Star break, Curry had said he would not be back for tonight’s game against the Lakers in Los Angeles. Now it’s clear he will miss at least a trio of home games Friday (vs. Houston), Sunday (vs. Minnesota) and Tuesday (vs. Portland).Those last three games will mark the start of a five-game homestand. The earliest he could be back would be March 2 against the Los Angeles Clippers, which is the first night of a back-to-back.
Curry was injured Feb. 4 when his knee collided with the knee of Mavericks guard McKinley Wright IV. Curry’s Tuesday workout did not involve practice, but he did some light, non-contact work. He was spotted back on the court Wednesday afternoon.
The Warriors obviously need Curry, their lone All-Star, to return and help them in their playoff race as well as Andrew Wiggins, who will be away from the team indefinitely as he deals with a family matter.
But in the case of Curry, the Warriors can’t afford to risk further injury. They currently sit at 29-29, ninth in the jam-packed Western Conference playoff race, only 2.5 games behind the fourth-place Clippers and a single game ahead of the Trail Blazers in 12th.
“We’re right in the thick of it,” coach Steve Kerr said after practice. “We know that we’re going to be without Steph for the foreseeable future. So same thing as what happened last time when he went down ... we patched things together and the guys strung together a five-game winning streak and we held down the fort, and that’s the plan this time, too. loWith 24 games left, our goal is right ahead of us, but without some key guys we’ve got to make sure we’re tightening things up.
“Twenty-four game season, we’re looking at it as a chance to put it together and get into the playoffs, be healthy and go from there. And we’d like our chances if we can put ourselves in that spot.”
Klay’s set to play back-to-backs >> Klay Thompson played in his first complete back-to-back set in four years in the Warriors’ final two games before the All-Star break. He responded “really well,” according to Kerr, who anticipates Thompson will be good to go for the team’s final three sets of back-to-backs this season.
“As always, everything depends on just a day-to-day checkup with him and so we’ll see how he’s doing after the game (tonight),” Kerr said.
Asked whether Thompson could be on a minutes restriction for one of the nights, Kerr said the team will play it by ear.