SAN FRANCISCO — As the team expected, Steph Curry’s runner’s knees likely won’t knock him out for multiple games, with the superstar on pace to play against the Suns on Saturday.
Curry, 36, practiced in full on Friday after missing Wednesday night’s game — a 105-101 loss to the Thunder. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said the team plans to list him as questionable for Saturday’s game in Phoenix, but the tea leaves point for Curry returning.
“We’ll see how he holds up after today’s practice, but yeah, he’s doing better,” Kerr said after Friday’s practice.
Curry has missed four games this season — three with an ankle sprain and one with the knee issue. He’s playing a career-low 29.7 minutes per game in an effort to get him through the year healthy. While remaining the best shooter in the league, Curry is averaging 22.4 points, 6.5 assists and 5.4 rebounds per game.
Curry’s current injury, listed as bilateral patellofemoral pain, is commonly known as “runner’s knee” — discomfort around or behind the kneecaps. Kerr had described the aid as “tendonitis” and Curry had previously been on the injury report this year with knee “bursitis.” Regardless of the official medical jargon, Curry’s knees have been bothering him for the past couple weeks.
But since he rested against Oklahoma City this week, he’ll have four days between games to recover. At Friday’s practice, amid three straight losses, the Warriors (12-6) focused on getting into their offensive sets quicker and with more authority instead of being a “half-step slow,” Kerr said. Curry was in the mix for that work.
“Think he looks good to me,” Brandin Podziemski said.
Without Curry against the Thunder, the Warriors’ offense struggled, especially in the fourth quarter. Jonathan Kuminga was, at times, the only player who could consistently get into the lane and score. Golden State went 19-for-46 as a team in the paint. Podziemski slid into Curry’s starting role and reserve Pat Spencer backed him up, playing the best game of his career.