Ohhh, back to school ?
[via @StephenCurry30] pic.twitter.com/I0qwwmlhkH
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) December 30, 2017
Steph Curry is officially back, and no one is happier about his return to the Warriors than the point guard himself.
After missing more than three weeks with an ankle sprain, Curry is set to start on Saturday evening as Golden State plays host to the Memphis Grizzlies. When the Warriors’ star left for Oracle Arena on Saturday afternoon, he posted a Billy Madison-inspired video announcing he was going “back to school.”
Though Curry will play for the first time in 11 games, Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr said the team planned to reduce his workload against Memphis.
“We will, I’d be shocked if we didn’t keep him under 30 (minutes),” Kerr said. “If we don’t, that’s my fault. My plan is to play him in six-seven minute bursts. Ideally four of those bursts, it sounds about right to me. But it’s not an exact science. So we’ve discussed it and talked with Chelsea and with Steph about it so this will be a case of he’s got to give us feedback as to how he’s feeling, I will keep an eye on him in terms of his wind and his conditioning. But I think ideally, 20-25 minutes would be nice.”
Steve Kerr outlines the plan for Steph Curry’s return pic.twitter.com/jHkpLgmy9e
— KNBR (@KNBR) December 31, 2017
The Warriors went 9-2 during Curry’s absence, losing to the Denver Nuggets in a trap game on December 23 before falling 111-100 to the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday night.
With Curry out, Golden State was one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the NBA, as Kerr said the team struggled to find open shots and didn’t have the benefit of Curry’s ability to space the floor. However, the Warriors did take a step forward on the defensive side of the ball, as Kevin Durant took over the NBA lead in blocks and the team posted some of the league’s highest efficiency numbers.
What triggered the defensive success?
“I think more than anything, it’s the fear of playing without Steph Curry,” Kerr said. “The natural reaction of our players to understand alright, we don’t have Steph we’ve got to buckle down. When your focus is a little bit better and your competitive desire is there, then you’re going to play a little better defensively. We’re going to discount last night because for whatever reason, that didn’t carry over last night. For the most part since he’s been out, our defense has been great. It’s not anything strategic, it’s just we had to do what we had to do to win games.”