SAN FRANCISCO – Warriors superstar Steph Curry will continue to be shelved coming out of the 2026 NBA All-Star break, but Golden State is optimistic Kristaps Porizingis can make his team debut Thursday night at Chase Center against the Boston Celtics.
Curry and the Warriors’ veterans were given an extra day off during the All-Star break and weren’t part of Golden State’s practice Tuesday night. He was back in the building Wednesday but wasn’t ready to scrimmage and did not practice. Curry is being evaluated by the Warriors’ training staff Wednesday night.
“It’s unfortunate, but we’ll have an update tomorrow after he goes through his time with the training staff tonight,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Wednesday after practice.
Curry missed the Warriors’ final five games going into the NBA All-Star break because of right patellofemoral pain syndrome, which is more commonly known as “runner’s knee.” The same injury kept Curry out of the Warriors’ game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Jan 26. He then returned for the Warriors’ next two games but had to leave the second with four minutes remaining in the third quarter due to the pain and didn’t return.
Though his knee injury prevented him from playing, Curry was voted to his 12th NBA All-Star Game and 11th as a starter. Curry, 37 years old and in his 17th season, is averaging 27.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game while also shooting 39.1 percent from 3-point range. He’s leading the league in 3-pointers made per game (4.5), 3-point attempts per game (11.5) and free throw percentage (93.1 percent).
As he went through media availability but skipped the physical aspect of the All-Star weekend, Curry had a trainer working with him but knew his body wasn’t in the right place when he came home Thursday. Kerr said it’s possible Curry, who hasn’t played since Jan. 30, undergoes a second MRI. The Warriors coach described Curry’s knee injury as “a little nebulous.”
“That’s the nature of the injury,” Kerr said. “I’m not going to do [Rick Celebrini] a disservice and try to explain it myself. That’s just not my area of expertise, but it’s a little tricky. We’re going to keep plugging away with it. Steph will take the right steps. Our training staff will continue to work with him, and now we’ll see where it goes.”
The Warriors will officially list Porzingis as questionable for Thursday night’s game. Porzingis stayed in the Bay Area during All-Star break to keep working with the Warriors’ training staff. He was a full participant Wednesday in the Warriors’ practice and scrimmage.
“Looked good, so fingers crossed,” Kerr said. “Everything has gone well so far.”
Porzingis was acquired by the Warriors on Feb. 4 from the Atlanta Hawks for Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield, but he hasn’t played since Jan. 7 because of left Achilles tendinitis. He missed large chunks of the last three seasons for multiple reasons and has been held to 17 games this season. In the 17 games he has played this season, the 7-foot-2 center is averaging 17.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, and is shooting 36 percent beyond the arc.
Before making it official, Porzingis and the Warriors are talking like they expect him to play. Porzingis said he’s “feeling excellent” after scrimmaging.
“Questionable, but I’m feeling good right now,” Porzingis said. “… I feel good on the court. I did a bunch of work before the All-Star break. Then I had the break and a couple days off, but I stayed active. I’ve barely played this season. I want to get out there feeling good and start building on top of this and finish the season really strong.”
His Warriors debut, if it does come Thursday night, will be against the same team he and Golden State teammate Al Horford won the 2024 championship with.
“Weird. If somebody said while we were in Boston that this was going to be the scenario, who would believe this? But this is how it works out,” Porzingis said. “We expected for Boston to have some changes with the money and stuff, but it’s going to be weird, especially first game back being against Boston too.
“It’s going to be cool, seeing all the guys again.”