Steph Curry responded well enough from Friday’s full practice do a shooting workout at end of shootaround on Saturday morning. Warriors to see how he feels after all of this pic.twitter.com/ABwQgiXxCc
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) April 28, 2018
OAKLAND – Saturday night the Golden State Warriors will host the red-hot New Orleans Pelicans to kick off the two teams’ second-round matchup. The main storyline heading into Game 1 is the availability, or lack thereof, of Stephen Curry.
As of Saturday morning…we’re still not sure.
Curry participated in shootaround with his Warriors in downtown Oakland Saturday morning, a day after he was a full participant in the team’s Friday practice. The Warriors have listed their two-time MVP as questionable heading into the series opener.
We’re now five weeks removed from Curry’s Grade 2 MCL sprain, one he suffered when big man JaVale McGee landed on the side of his leg.
Curry didn’t speak with media Saturday but was on the court going through his usual post-shootaround routine with Warriors coach Bruce Frasier, capping it off with his traditional kickball-style trick shot.
There’s almost no incentive for the Warriors to tip their hand to the Pelicans and share when Curry will return until they absolutely have to, so we expect to be kept in the dark on the subject until a few hours before he does return to the court.
There is also very little incentive for the Warriors to rush Curry back into action as soon as possible. Sure, the last time these two teams faced the Pelicans beat the Warriors at home 126-120, but it would come as a major upset if New Orleans was able to beat the Warriors in a seven game series, even if Curry was to sit the entire series.
That being said, the narrative behind Curry’s return would take a different tone if the sharpshooter sat Saturday night and his running mates failed to take care of the Pelicans at home.
But let us not count our upsets before they hatch.
Sam Hustis covers the Warriors for KNBR. You can follow him on Twitter @SamHustis.
