There was a big exhale in the Bay Area when Stephen Curry returned to Friday night’s win against the Hawks after suffering a tweak of his problematic right ankle and briefly retreating to the visitor’s locker room. It’s a further sign that the Warriors just want to get the season over with. Other than getting the best record in the Western Conference and home court throughout the playoffs, which isn’t as pressing with them as it is with the Rockets, the Warriors’ biggest worry is injury.
Of course, Curry’s history with the ankle is well documented. Anyway, here’s a refresher from Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle:
That his tweaked right ankle isn’t considered serious was the biggest takeaway from a night Golden State escaped Philips Arena with a 114-109 win over the Hawks. With three days to rest before Tuesday’s home game against Brooklyn, Curry doesn’t expect to miss any more time.
“Knowing I’ve been through this plenty of times, I’m not worried about it,” said Curry, who was sidelined more than three weeks earlier this season by a sprained right ankle. “The one thing we were able to kind of rule out was a re-aggravation of the old injury. So, that’s obviously a bright spot.”
Half a decade ago, Curry was a promising 24-year-old playmaker who was so prone to ankle sprains that many wondered whether he’d stay on the court long enough to realize his potential. In May 2011, after spraining his right ankle several times in his second NBA season, Curry underwent surgery to repair torn ligaments. The following season, he suffered five ankle sprains and missed 56 games.
Over the past five years, as he averaged 78.8 games, Curry hushed lingering doubts about those balky ankles. That is, until he badly rolled his right ankle lunging for a steal late in the Warriors’ Dec. 4 win over New Orleans.
Curry returned 12 games later, averaging 35.2 points over five games, before he re-sprained his right ankle slipping at shoot-around and missed two more games. Multiple times in the past six weeks, he has appeared to tweak that infamous ankle before checking back onto the court.
