Stephen Curry is back. After a 58-game absence following a freak left hand fracture in his third game of the season, and two ensuing hand surgeries, Curry will return on Thursday night, in what is technically a rematch of last year’s NBA Finals between the Warriors and Toronto Raptors.
Curry is entering a Klay Thompson-less team full of youth, with a 14-48 record, against the 43-18 Raptors. But these remaining 22 games (or potentially fewer, depending on whether Curry plays all, some, or no back-to-backs) are about getting Curry familiar with Andrew Wiggins, those other youngsters, and just as crucially, comfortability in his hand.
He admitted two weeks ago that he still had some numbness in that left hand and didn’t deny he still has an odd feeling in that hand.
“Enough to play. Been pretty clear on, it’s gonna be a while before comparing the left to the right that it feels normal,” Curry said. “And there is a new normal that I’m dealing with but that’s the reality of it and at this point I can’t re-injure it unless something freakish happens like it did last time and there’s a confidence knowing that, and I just gotta get out there and play and work through all the different kind of feelings that I have with, with all the trauma that went through.”
The six-time All-Star and two-time MVP said that while his hand isn’t where it was, he has confidence in the improvements he’s made physically. His main goal, in this final stretch is to “… get to a point where I don’t think about it on the floor, and hopefully that comes pretty comes back pretty quick.”
Curry admitted wouldn’t be surprised if opponents target that left hand, an expectation he said he welcomes “with open arms.” He recalled a recent conversation with Kyle Lowry of the Raptors, who Curry said joked that the Raptors might break out the box-and-one defense on him like they did in the NBA Finals.
“I’m expecting anything,” Curry said.
As for the actual minutes restriction, Curry was clear on how much he expects to play.
“Somewhere between 24 and 28 minutes,” Curry said.
He clarified that he still expects to be finishing quarters, finishing the game, being available in key moments for the Warriors, which he stressed was the most important asset of dividing his minutes intelligently.
“It’s just a matter of kind of staying in that lane where I can go full speed, highest intensity and not burn out and get through a whole game, so I’m not worried about it though,” Curry said. “I think I can play a lot more than that just based on all the work that I put in, but we’ve got to be smart about it in that sense and and you also have to feel a game, too.”
There were a few other items on the docket that Curry was asked about, namely, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and whether he’d play in back-to-backs.
His expectation is still to play in those Olympics, but that he’s “always had that on my radar.”
Curry said the team has discussed playing back-to-backs. He didn’t reveal what the plan was, but said he wants to play every night if possible.
“When I come back I wanted to be all the way back, and not have that kind of, ‘Now you see me now you don’t’ type of vibe, so that’s why I had all these checks, check points to get through to get cleared to play,” Curry said. “And now I want to be out there you know every night and finish out the year strong, so we got, you know 20 games, whether that’s 16, 17, 18 games, whatever it is, it should be fun.”
As for the feeling — in a season Curry said reminded him of his rookie year — of returning, he likened it to back-to-school day.
“It feels like the first day of school, pretty much, all over again, which is exciting,” Curry said. “So, I feel pretty comfortable, very confident in where I’m at physically and just excited to get back out there.”
