The Warriors are severely short-handed tonight as Stephen Curry, along with five other veteran players, were not available in their matchup against the Cavaliers. Before the game, while addressing the Warriors’ injury situation, Steve Kerr gave an optimistic update on Stephen Curry.
“I talked to Rick yesterday. Steph’s doing well. Yeah, he started back on the court yesterday, and so everything’s going well, “ said Kerr before facing the Cavaliers tonight. “Yeah, it’s realistic for sure,” he responded when asked if Curry would stick to the expected timeline.
The baby-faced assassin had been sidelined with a quad contusion since the Warriors faced the Rockets on November 26. Having missed three games since before tonight, Curry did not join the Warriors on this road trip and stayed back to rehabilitate.
Initially, the Warriors were hoping to have him back by the Timberwolves game at the Chase Center next week. Now they seem optimistic that Curry will match that timeline and be ready to play after the end of this road trip.
The Warriors veteran is still playing at an elite level despite being 37 years old. He is averaging 27.9 points, 4.0 assists, and 3.7 rebounds this season while shooting 39.1% from the three-point line in the 16 games he has played this season.
The Golden State Warriors have a 9-7 record in those 16 games; meanwhile, they have a 2-5 record when Curry is absent. Therefore, the Warriors team members and fans are eagerly awaiting his return from injury.
Meanwhile, six other veterans, including Al Horford, could return in tomorrow’s game against the Bulls on the second night of a back-to-back sequence of games.
“I don’t even know who was on the questionable list. I know there were a lot of guys, but a lot of guys are out tonight. I can tell you that. Dre’s out. Jimmy’s out. Melt’s out. Al’s out. Seth is out.”
“I’m optimistic that most of them will be able to play tomorrow. But I’m not sure yet. So, we’ll see. We’ll see tomorrow,” said Kerr during the conference.
Entering the fourth quarter, the Warriors seemed to have the game in control (88-77 with a little over six minutes left on the clock). But anything could happen as the Cavaliers fought back to cut it to a three-point difference with less than two minutes left on the game clock (94-91) after the Warriors went dry on the offensive end down the stretch.
It is noteworthy to point out that all season, the Warriors have been complaining about random role players from teams playing without their star players going off against them to beat them through the regular season.
And now, without six of their key stars in tonight’s game, the Warriors somehow managed to pull off this nervy 99-94 victory over the Cavaliers to improve their record to 12-12 for the season.
The Warriors will face the Bulls tomorrow, and most of the veterans missing today against the Cavaliers are expected to return tomorrow night. It will be interesting to see if the Warriors can add another win to their record in Curry’s absence.
