The Warriors and their fans are eagerly anticipating Stephen Curry’s return to action as their superstar has missed the last 18 games, going back to before the All-Star weekend, due to suffering from runner’s knee syndrome.
According to NBA insider Shams Charania, the Warriors now have an estimated timeline for Curry’s return to action ahead of tonight’s game against the Celtics.
“There is cautious optimism that Stephen Curry will return to the lineup at some point by the end of the month, and that’s after what I’m told he had a strong on-court workout Tuesday afternoon, starting to run, cut, move, and take some slight contact like the Stephen Curry we know,” said Charania during his appearance on ESPN’s NBA Today show.
“But the most important part, though, is that he’s not experiencing the swelling that he had over the last several weeks or over a month ago when he needed to get a PRP injection from my understanding due to those knee issues.”
“So now it’s about him building on these conditioning issues, getting more and more comfort in that knee before he’s able to make the call to make it back on the court,” Charania concluded.
Just yesterday, Steve Kerr, the Warriors’ head coach, appeared for an interview on 95.7 The Game’s Willard and Dibs radio show. He said that Curry had ramped up his workouts, and they hope he returns to scrimmages by the end of this road trip.
The Warriors are currently 33-35, and their road trip ends in Dallas when they face the Mavericks on Monday, March 23. They now hope that Curry will be available at least for the final seven games of the season in April, if not sooner.
We could see Curry suit up when the Warriors face the Spurs on April 1. The 38-year-old superstar is currently averaging 27.2 points, 4.8 assists, and 3.5 rebounds in the 39 games he played this season. He shot 46.8% from the field and 39.1% from beyond the three-point line during this time.
Even though the Warriors have been 10-19 without Curry this season, they should not rush him back until he’s fully ready, as they are nearly certainly going to make it to the play-in tournament upon looking at the standings (9.5 games ahead of the 11th-place Grizzlies and 8.5 games behind the Timberwolves, who are sixth in the West).
Nonetheless, it is a positive sign for them to have their superstar back in action for the final stretch of the regular season, as it would help him get the rust off from sitting on the sidelines for over 20 games by that point and get into the flow and momentum with the team, heading into the postseason.
