Steph Curry’s return to the courtroom seems to be on the horizon. Although he’s not collaborating in on-court actions but, he’s hitting the treadmill and dealing within the weight room with Rick Celebrini, the Warriors’ director of sports activities medication and efficiency.
It’s potential Curry — recovering from a foot sprain sustained on March 16 in opposition to the Celtics — may return for a handful of the Warriors’ remaining 5 regular-season video games earlier than the primary spherical of the playoffs on April 16. On the very least, he’s “trending in a great route,” coach Steve Kerr stated.
The Warriors may use Curry to cinch the offense again into place as they’ve misplaced 4 straight video games to drop to fourth place within the Western Convention. However will Curry be as much as the duty post-injury?
Historical past says after a significant harm, it might take a while for Curry to search out his stride once more — and he’s made a behavior of spraining ligaments proper within the thick of the playoff hunt. However few gamers within the NBA could make a right away affect post-injury fairly like him.
The 2016 MCL sprain
Curry’s early profession was outlined by persistent ankle accidents, however the dynasty years have been stricken by some premature knee sprains.
The glow of a historic 73-9 common season light rapidly when Curry sprained the MCL in his proper knee slipping on a moist spot throughout Sport 4 of the primary spherical of the 2016 playoffs in opposition to the Houston Rockets.
The Warriors completed off that Sport 4 with a victory and gained Sport 5 handily with out him, however Curry would miss the primary three video games of Golden State’s second-round matchup in opposition to the Portland Path Blazers. That amounted to a near-two-week rehab — not almost sufficient time to completely heal.
Cleared to play for Sport 4 with the Warriors up 2-1, Curry got here off the bench and shot a sluggish 5-for-13 and 0-for-5 from 3 within the first half. He went nuclear in extra time, scoring 17 factors on 3-for-3 from 3 in 5 electrifying minutes, His 3-pointer that put the Warriors up 5 with lower than two minutes to spare prompted Curry to shout, “I’m right here! I’m again!” to the Portland crowd.
Curry’s play was inconsistent, although, as he seemed to be enjoying at lower than 100% well being. His taking pictures share dropped from an astounding 50 % within the common season to 44 within the playoffs. His 3-point taking pictures dropped from 45 % to 40.
These numbers wouldn’t be alarming for every other participant, however they have been a transparent drop-off from his regular-season play that earned him his unanimous MVP award.
Curry’s agility turned a difficulty as he struggled to shake opposing bigs on defensive switches. Though he discovered his moments — together with a spectacular Sport 7 within the Western Convention Finals — limitations caught as much as in opposition to of their Finals loss in opposition to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Coach Steve Kerr admitted they adjusted their play-calling to accommodate Curry’s limitations following their blown 3-1 result in LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and the Cavaliers within the Finals.
The 2018 MCL sprain
Curry glided by a dreamy, injury-free 2017 championship yr with newly acquired famous person Kevin Durant. However the Warriors; bid to repeat in 2018 was met with one more pricey harm for Curry. A well-known one, too.
Curry sprained his knee on March 23 in opposition to the Atlanta Hawks and sat out six weeks, together with the Warriors’ first-round matchup in opposition to the San Antonio Spurs — which the Warriors gained in 5 video games. Curry returned for Sport 2 of the second spherical in opposition to the New Orleans Pelicans to a crew higher outfitted to select up the slack the place Curry lacked.
With Durant and Klay Thompson working the Warriors’ offense like a machine throughout his absence, Curry wasn’t burdened with the scoring accountability he shouldered throughout the 2016 run.
They hit a snag within the Western Convention Finals, although, in opposition to the switch-heavy Houston Rockets protection that pushed the Warriors to the brink of elimination. That’s the place Curry discovered his spots on the greatest moments, together with a 29-point efficiency in Sport 6 and 27-point Sport 7 that clinched one other NBA Finals journey, the place they clinched back-to-back titles with a sweep of Cleveland.
The 2020 hand fracture
The pandemic lower brief the 2020 NBA season in mid-March, however Curry’s season got here to an abrupt halt 5 months earlier.
Taking part in the Phoenix Suns within the fourth recreation of the season, middle Aaron Baynes collided and landed sq. on Curry’s left hand, leading to a fracture that required surgical procedure and sidelined Curry for a number of months. Save for one recreation on March 5, the pandemic — the Warriors didn't qualify to play within the playoff bubble — held off Curry’s anticipated comeback for the next season.
Absolutely recovered and rested, Curry put collectively an MVP-caliber season and secured his second profession scoring title within the 2020-21 season. With Klay Thompson out rehabbing a torn Achilles and Kevin Durant departed for Brooklyn in free company, Golden State lacked the depth and expertise to make a playoff run, falling brief within the play-in spherical. However Curry shot 42 % from 3 and averaged 32 factors per recreation, ending third in MVP voting that yr.