Steph Curry had to sit on the bench with a walking boot on his left foot Sunday night. He could only watch as the Warriors lost a tough 110-108 heartbreaker to the San Antonio Spurs, in a game that featured a Draymond Green ejection, questionable late calls from referees and a stunning, game-winning putback by Keldon Johnson with 0.3 seconds left on a missed free throw.
Before the contest, Curry spoke to reporters for the first time since spraining ligaments in his left foot Wednesday after Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart rolled him up diving for a loose ball.
"It was painful at first. It’s getting better by the day,” Curry said. “Just trying to assess the recovery in real time, just to know how much we can push it on a day-to-day [basis]. Obviously, not much [right now]. Just trying to stay patient and it’ll continue to get better and we’ll make the necessary steps to get back on the floor, get my other shoe back on, get reps in and hopefully be out there as soon as possible.”
The Warriors are expected to re-evaluate Steph around April 1. Curry admitted that reintegrating the rotations in the playoffs will be a challenge, but he’s confident that his conditioning won’t be too diminished by the time he returns. Curry is expected to miss the remaining 11 games of regular season but said he’s targeting a return by Game 1 of the Warriors’ first-round playoff series, which would begin on April 16, a full month after his injury occurred.
“I think I got enough time for that,” Curry said. “I’m an optimist, though.”
Smart became the focus of a discussion in the fallout of Curry’s injury. Coach Steve Kerr and Smart talked after the game following a heated cross-court exchange in the middle of the contest, but Kerr still called the play “dangerous.” Curry said he looked at the film and didn’t see anything “malicious or dirty or trying to hurt me.”
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With Sunday’s loss, the Warriors are now 2-5 in the seven games Curry has missed this year. In his absence, many are looking for third-year guard Jordan Poole to supply scoring and playmaking in the starting lineup. He racked up 28 points, five rebounds and three assists in Sunday’s loss, marking his ninth straight contest scoring at least 20 points.
The timing of Curry’s injury, Draymond Green’s two-month absence and Klay Thompson’s two-year rehab have limited the trio to just 11 minutes of playing time through five quarters together. As Curry noted, Andrew Wiggins was out sick when the trio played together against the Washington Wizards last week.
“It’s frustrating for sure,” Curry said. “Obviously Klay is in a different ballpark, but we’ve all kinda been in our own rehab journeys now and injuries, trying to get out there on the floor. What I have comfort in is that we know each other so well, when we do get healthy we can pick up where we left off.”
