The Curry countdown clock is on.
The Warriors reconvened in Los Angeles on Tuesday for their first practice after a nice layoff during the All-Star break. Perhaps the biggest news came after the team session, as superstar Steph Curry hit a big milestone in his recovery, as he returned to the court for individual work.
“First time on the court,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters. “He’ll do a few things lightly and see where he goes from there.”
Before the All-Star break, Steph joked about the notion he would miss a “chunk” of games with his leg injury once the game action restarted. He conceded that Thursday’s matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers was probably out of the question, but made no guarantees beyond that.
The Warriors open up a five-game homestand on Friday against the Houston Rockets and then host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday. Curry suffered his injury on Feb. 4 and initially was expected to miss “a few weeks” per reports. The Warriors would probably like to see Steph practice with his teammates a little bit before throwing him out into game action, but we can assume that he's nearing a comeback.
Steph’s return will only re-energize a Warriors team that needed a reset. Especially those guys from Milwaukee.
Through the first 58 games of the season, the Warriors only have two players who have appeared in each one: Milwaukee natives Kevon Looney and Jordan Poole. If anyone needed a break, it was them.
“We definitely needed it,” Looney said. “There’s a lot of ups and downs. There’s a lot of adversity that comes. You’re playing good, you’re not playing good, your body’s feeling tired. Just having time to step away, just mentally to take a break and re-lock in and re-focus on what your goal is is big for both of us and our whole team. I think we both needed it. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season.”
Looney gets his flowers – and deservedly so – but Poole has quietly become an ironman for the Warriors in recent seasons. Since returning from a stint in the G League in February/March of 2021, Poole has only missed six games, due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols in December 2021.
“It’s one of Jordan’s strengths is his durability,” Kerr said. “He’s there for us every night.”
Another guy who loved the break? Klay Thompson, who spent his time with Rocco, his family and out in the ocean doing open water swims.
“Incredible,” Klay said of the break. “Mentally, physically, spiritually. It was everything I ever dreamt of.”
The Dubs reconvened in LA for a spirited practice Tuesday as the squad got back together for the post All-Star break stretch run.
“It took 45 minutes for us to start practice because everybody was getting reacquainted,” Kerr said. “That’s a good sign. You want guys to be excited to see one another. We got a lot of good stuff ahead of us.”
