Stephen Curry will miss his third straight game Wednesday in Miami, but if The Athletic’s Marcus Thompson is right, he won’t be sidelined much longer.
Thompson, one of the most plugged in reporters on the Warriors beat, projects Curry will return from his foot injury on April 7 against the Lakers. By then, the point guard will have missed nine games. There would still be three games remaining in the regular season.
“I already looked at April 7 as my target,” Thompson said. “If we’re doing a pool, I’m putting my $5 on April 7 against the Lakers.”
Curry suffered a sprained left foot ligament in the second quarter of Golden State’s March 16 game against the Celtics when Marcus Smart dove for a loose ball and rolled up on Curry’s foot. Head coach Steve Kerr was visibly frustrated with the play in the moment and later called Smart’s hustle “dangerous.” Both Curry and Draymond Green said it wasn’t a dirty play.
Curry, who dealt with ankle injuries early in his career, was listed as out “indefinitely” and the team announced he’d be re-evaluated two weeks from March 18.
If he does return April 7 against the Lakers, Curry would have three off-days to practice with the team and build up his conditioning. Thompson said that because the two-time MVP has been through so many injuries in the past, this situation is less stressful for him.
“The way he feels about it makes you think, ‘Okay, this is just a minor setback,’” Thompson said. “Initially, I was thinking this reminded me of 2016, remember when he tore his MCL and came back when he wasn’t all the way back? I was wondering if this would be like that where he comes back, kind of misses the first round, misses the rest of that series. Misses the next round against Portland or at least the first few games. Then he comes back and he’s still not all the way back. But he sounds like he’ll be back sooner. He feels good about it.”
The Warriors are currently third in the Western Conference with a 47-25 record despite Curry, Green and Klay Thompson being simultaneously healthy for one total game.
With 10 games remaining, Golden State is two games ahead of the Jazz and three up on Dallas in the standings. Jockeying for a first-round playoff matchup as the season winds down could take a back seat to getting Curry healthy and re-acclimated to his teammates. Though there is built-up continuity over the years between Curry, Thompson and Green, they just haven’t had the opportunity to gel this season with this current group of role players.
But for Curry specifically, there’s reason to believe he can return and contribute.
“He is just so in control of who he is as a player that I don’t think it’s that big of a worry,” Thompson said. “As long as he is healthy, as long as he can do all of the cutting and all of the movement, then I think he’s fine. If he’s got to be limited, if he’s getting cortisone shots, all that stuff, that’s where it won’t be fine. But if he is healthy, I don’t think he needs much.”
Listen to the full interview with Marcus Thompson below. You can listen to every KNBR interview on our podcast page at knbr.com/podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Catch Papa & Lund weekdays from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. on KNBR 104.5 / 680 and streaming live on KNBR.com.