It is looking more and more like Stephen Curry will miss his chance to square off against his hometown NBA team this season.
In an interview on “The Greg Papa Show” with Bonta Hill, Golden State Warriors GM Bob Myers says it is “unlikely” Curry will suit up for Friday’s home game against the Charlotte Hornets (10:30 ET, NBA League Pass). Curry missed the Warriors’ road game against the Hornets on Dec. 6 after suffering the right ankle injury that has kept him sidelined since Dec. 5.
Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle has more from Myers’ radio interview yesterday about Curry’s injury status:
“He might miss Charlotte twice,” Myers said on “The Greg Papa Show” with Bonta Hill. “I don’t know. I think it’s unlikely, to be honest. I don’t think he’ll play Friday. We have a back-to-back, and so that would put him right into a back-to-back situation, which probably is not good for any player coming off a (long absence).
“I don’t think Friday’s that likely. Saturday? I don’t know.”
The Warriors plan to be especially cautious with Curry, who scrimmaged late last week.
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“The mistake we don’t want to make — that anybody wants to make — is we play him to early, he gets hurt, then we’re asking ourselves, ‘What was the point of that?’” Myers said. “So, we’re going to err on the side of caution.”
Head coach Steve Kerr said during his pregame presser Wednesday that Curry will “definitely” scrimmage Thursday.
Curry is continuing to ramp up his load at practice, with the Warriors saying he needs to go through two or three more practices before he can consider a return.
The Warriors have lost just once with Curry out, a 96-81 home setback to Denver on Dec. 23. Curry is averaging 26.3 points, 6.6 assists and 5.1 rebounds per contest. Golden State currently holds the best record in the league at 27-7.
He was initially expected to miss at least two weeks because of the injury, but after the team’s training staff re-evaluated him last Tuesday, they determined that he’d need to miss at least another week and be re-evaluated Dec. 26. According to The Mercury News, Curry did not participate in any team practices last week, but did shooting and dribbling drills while sometimes being attached to a resistance band.
