The Golden State Warriors will re-examine Steph Curry next week, delaying any return for the superstar point guard. While Curry has already missed 20 games, reports last week suggested that he was expected to resume scrimmaging with hopes to ramp up for a return. According to a report by Shams Charania of ESPN, however, Curry was unable to scrimmage this week and so the Warriors will wait another week to re-evaluate his injury. Curry will now be out for at least 25 games, and could very well be out for the season.
At this point, even if Curry is cleared to play, the Warriors may be hesitant to have him return with only a few games to ramp up for the intensity of the NBA Play-In Tournament. It would not be a surprise for Golden State to table Curry for the remainder of the season, effectively forfeiting their chances of reaching the playoffs, and looking ahead to next year. Of course, they would have to get Curry on board with that strategy, and the hyper competitor will likely have another idea in mind.
The Warriors have unsurprisingly collapsed in the standings without Curry anchoring an already shorthanded roster. Golden State has fallen to 35-38 on the season and is currently the 10th seed in the Western Conference standings. While they have virtually no risk of missing the play-in entirely, they will have to win back-to-back road games to reach the postseason unless they can catch the Los Angeles Clippers (37-36) and/or Portland Trail Blazers (37-37). If the Dubs want to avoid playing the top seed in the West, likely the Oklahoma City Thunder, they will have to climb above both Portland and LA.
Curry has only appeared in 39 games so far this season, averaging 27.2 points, 4.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.1 steals in 31.3 minutes on 46.8%/39.1%/93.1% shooting. The Warriors have outscored opponents by 2.2 points per 100 possessions with Curry on the court this season (as opposed to being outscored by 0.8 points per 100 possessions).
