The Golden State Warriors expect Stephen Curry back in the lineup when they take their road winning streak up against old pal Jordan Poole and the Washington Wizards in the nation’s capital on Monday night.
Curry injured his left ankle on Oct. 27 in a home loss to the Los Angeles Clippers and has missed the Warriors’ last three games, all of which they’ve won.
The 10-time All-Star and 2024 Olympic gold medalist has accompanied the team on its five-game trip, which began with a 127-121 overtime win over the Houston Rockets on Saturday night. The win improved Golden State’s road record to 3-0.
Curry was re-examined Friday, given the go-ahead to work out with the team, and, according to the Warriors, has shown steady progress leading into Monday’s game. He will nonetheless be listed as questionable pending how he feels in the warm-up.
In the meantime, fellow veteran Draymond Green believes the Warriors have rallied around the impression they’re a pushover without Curry.
“If I’m honest, we’re all sick and tired of hearing that,” Green said after the win over Houston. “Steph is Steph, and we all know that. But, for some reason, when Steph’s out, everybody acts like we can’t play. We’re all so sick of it. And there’s been added motivation to win these three.
“If you think that hasn’t been mentioned, you’re out of your mind. We’re all NBA players; we’re All-Stars, first-round picks, you name it. And for some reason, every time Steph goes out, everybody acts like, âOh man, the world has collapsed.’ Now, we want him out there, just like everybody else does. But we’re still capable of performing.”
Reserves played a key role in the win at Houston. Buddy Hield led the way with a team-high 27 points, while Jonathan Kuminga (23 game points) and Kyle Anderson carried the offensive load in an 8-2 overtime run.
The Warriors have swept the last two season series from the Wizards, including a 123-112 win at Washington last February in which Kuminga had 21 points and Curry 18.
Traded to the Wizards last offseason, Poole struggled in his first two games against the Warriors. He totaled 37 points in the losses but shot just 12-for-38, including 5-for-20 on 3-pointers. He also mixed in seven turnovers.
Now in his second season with Washington, the 25-year-old is off to a high-scoring start and leads the team with 22.2 points per game. He has topped 20 points in four of five games, including each of the last three. He had 21 points when the Wizards went to Mexico City on Saturday and lost 118-98 to the Miami Heat.
Wizards coach Brian Keefe notes Poole is making an effort to improve in areas in which he was criticized while with Golden State.
“His activity on defense has been great,” Keefe observed, “and he’s getting organized and playing within the flow of the game.”
Someone the Warriors might have a hard time recognizing is emerging second-year guard Bilal Coulibaly, who had just seven points in his only game against Golden State last season.
The Frenchman has improved his scoring average from 8.4 to 19.4 this season on the strength of three 20-plus-point outputs in his last four games.