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Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors
No matter how things shake out in the NBA lottery this spring, it can be argued that the biggest potential winner of the spate of tanking we’ve seen across the NBA is actually the Golden State Warriors. Because all the intentional losing from the Grizzlies, Jazz, Kings and friends in the Western Conference has meant that, even as their season spirals out of control thanks to injuries to Stephen Curry and others, the Warriors still are almost guaranteed a spot in the NBA’s play-in tournament.
The Warriors, of course, lost star forward Jimmy Butler to a torn ACL in January, and lost Curry to patellar tendinitis less than two weeks later. Curry has been hopeful of a return, and has been re-evaluated in 10-day intervals since (he will be looked at again at the end of this week), but remains out.
It’s now been 19 games without Curry, and the results have been horrendous: The Warriors are just 6-13.
Stephen Curry Gives Warriors ‘A Chance to Win’
But there is good news for the Warriors. No one’s giving up on Curry or his potential return. While there has been concern that the Warriors might be slow-playing the bad news that Curry will miss the rest of the year, his long-time trainer, Brandon Payne–not technically a Warriors employee–said his money is on a Curry return in time for the postseason.
Said Payne, on “The Line” podcast: “I do believe he’ll play again this year. And I think that any time you have Stephen Curry on your team, in a playoff setting, you have a chance to win. So as long as he’s back and healthy, I’d say probably by the last six, seven, eight games of the season, where he’s able to build a little bit of momentum heading into the play-in and hopefully the playoffs, of course they have a chance. Because they’ve got him on the floor.”
If Stephen Curry Can Play ‘He’s Gonna Play’
Payne pointed out that Curry takes the responsibility of stardom, for the Warriors and within the NBA in general, very seriously. He takes playing with a sense of duty.
“If he can play, he’s gonna play,” Payne said. “He loves competing, he loves to play. He also understands and values the fact that people wanna see him play, and fans want to come watch him play, and he enjoys that and loves that he has that responsibility to play for the people that love and support him.
“You know, it’s just been a little bit kind of tricky, it’s one of those things where you’ve got to be able to put back-to-back days together. I think that, right now, figuring out what the proper loading is for him to get him to that point is still where they kind of are. And they’ll figure it out.”
Warriors Return Home Next Week
They are running out of time, at least time before the playoffs begin. The Warriors have just 13 games remaining, and a critical new player–big man Kristaps Porzingis, acquired in a deadline trade–who could use some time on the floor with Curry to develop some chemistry.
If Curry can be cleared for a return this weekend, it’s possible he could be back on the floor on Monday when the Warriors wrap up their road trip with a game in Dallas. More likely, since he’s dealing with a delicate knee condition (runner’s knee, as it is informally known), Curry will need time to ramp up.
The Warriors also have home games against the Wizards and Nets next week.
Sean Deveney is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan.” More about Sean Deveney
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