The Warriors may have proven that they still have the talent to beat the Blazers without Steph Curry by going up 2-0 in their second round series, but if they want to get past the Spurs, Thunder or Cavs, they’re almost certainly going to need the MVP back at full strength. When Steph initially went down, he was given two weeks before he would be re-evaluated.
The next game of the series is on Saturday, two days short of that two-week projection. Curry said he felt “pretty good” about being ready, but according to Warriors GM Bob Myers, he has no way of really knowing because he hasn’t tested the ankle in practice.
“He’s got to play a little bit of 3-on-3 or 5-on-5,” Myers said. “He hasn’t done any of that stuff yet, and I just think until you are actually trending towards playing basketball, it’s hard to speculate as to what the date will be. If he’s able to do that before Saturday, then you see where you’re at.”
The Dubs can count themselves lucky that they have three off days between Games 2 and 3, because that will give Curry multiple chances to test his ankle in scrimmages. Myers seems to imply that Golden State’s training staff might hold Curry back even if he says he’s ready to go, which would be the prudent move. The Warriors look likely to advance to the Conference Finals even if Curry misses more than the firs two games, but if he rushes back only to aggravate his injury, that could be the only thing that might derail the Warriors’ run to back-to-back titles.
Ideally, the medical staff gives Curry the green light and his ankle injury is remembered as nothing more than a small bump in the road. Trusting Curry’s health to his own biases is the surest way for the Warriors to make it more than that.
(Via San Jose Mercury-News)
