Steph explains how he had to beg to stay in during the third quarter: “I said no way.” pic.twitter.com/FviFFnb2Pb
— KNBR (@KNBR) December 31, 2017
OAKLAND–Steve Kerr wanted Steph Curry to play in four short spurts.
After spending more than three weeks sidelined due to an ankle injury, the doctor ordered up a quartet of six-to-seven minute stints that would allow the Warriors’ point guard to get his legs under him and feel comfortable.
The problem with that theory? Steph Curry is no ordinary patient. Sure, Curry wound up playing just 26 minutes in the Warriors’ 141-128 victory over the Grizzlies on Saturday, but Golden State’s star exceeded any and all reasonable expectations with an incredible 38 point effort to pace his team in his first game back.
Curry dropped 21 points in the first half, and caught fire again in the third quarter. With Kerr eager to pull him off the floor and keep Curry’s minutes in check, Curry was feeling so strong that he told Kerr there was no way he was coming out of the game.
“The third quarter it was just a quick look to them and I literally said, ‘No way, no way,” Curry said. “I was feeling pretty good and then me and him had an understanding as to where the minutes would kind of fall as the game would go on and I would give him feedback on how my body was feeling and I felt amazing and it wasn’t just me just saying that, I really did and he gave me that extra minute and a half and I made a shot and so it paid off.”
Kerr said the Warriors were less concerned about Curry’s ankle than they were about how he was feeling from a conditioning standpoint, but as the game rolled on, it was clear Curry had more than enough left in the tank to continue crushing Memphis from beyond the arc. The Warriors’ sharpshooter drilled 10-of-13 three-point attempts, including one in the fourth quarter when he crossed over Marc Gasol and stepped back to drill a wide open dagger.
“It wasn’t like there was anything with his ankle that was keeping him from playing longer, it was just his wind,” Kerr said. “I was most concerned about him getting a little bit tired and then maybe compensating and something else, he pulls a muscle or something. It wasn’t a hard minute number that we were looking at, it was more tell us how you feel, we’ll see how you look, so we went a little bit beyond what we expected to but there wasn’t any risk involved because he’s healthy.”
After the Warriors lost to the Hornets on Friday evening 111-100, forward Kevin Durant joked that it might only take one quarter for Curry to regain his confidence on the floor. After Saturday’s game, Durant walked into a postgame press conference and announced that his prediction was correct, and admitted perhaps Curry didn’t even need a full quarter to integrate himself back into the Warriors’ offense.
Golden State entered the last game of the 2017 calendar year with reasonable and measured expectations for Curry’s return. But as Curry reminded everyone, he has the ability to defy the odds on any given night.
“Most guys you would say when they come back, maybe they’ll struggle a little bit to find their rhythm but you don’t say that about Steph,” Kerr said. “Because all it takes is one and he can be feeling it.”