It has been the season of "ramp-ups" for the oft-injured Warriors, and Steph Curry has started his climb back from the sprained ligament in his left foot.
"He is on the court now, getting some shots up," coach Steve Kerr told reporters Tuesday after practice. "He has been able to ramp things up a bit, and he's doing well."
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Curry was injured during the Warriors' loss to the Boston Celtics on March 16 when Marcus Smart dove for a loose ball and rolled into Curry's leg. The Warriors star has missed the last nine games and will be out for the remainder of the regular season. He will be reevaluated on April 11, the day after the regular season concludes.
The Warriors have gone 3-9 since Curry's injury and his absence has left an unfillable void in the Warriors' lineup.
"The great thing about Steph is you don’t have to worry about him getting the work in, he’s gonna do it," Klay Thompson told reporters Tuesday. "We’ll welcome him with big arms when he comes back, because we’re obviously not the same team without him."
Curry has said he plans to return for the Warriors' playoff opener. After missing the playoffs in each of the past two seasons, Curry is excited for the Warriors to be back under the bright lights again.
Golden State Warriors
"My goal is to get back for Game 1 of the playoffs," Curry, who currently is out with a sprained left foot, told Sue Bird and Dianna Taurasi on ESPN's "The Bird and Taurasi Show" on Friday. "Injuries suck. The timing is hopefully on your side in terms of getting back to as close to 100 percent as possible, which is my goal. The boys will hold it down to the end of the regular season.
"Like I said, that championship pedigree, we still got that. So, I just want to get in a playoff series and show who we are and bring our championship DNA back, and be playing under the brightest lights. It's been two years since we played in the playoffs, so we miss it."
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The Warriors have three games remaining in the regular season. Golden State currently is 50-29 and is sitting in the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
With one more win or a Denver Nuggets loss, the Warriors will clinch a top-four seed and home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. That's something Kerr believes could benefit Curry on his way back to the Warriors.
“It’ll be a big week,” Kerr told reporters after the Warriors' 109-90 win over the Kings on Sunday. “We’ll see how it all goes for Steph, but having a week or so, if he’s able to get on the floor and we can put together three or four really good practices as we prepare, it’d be nice to be able to do that and play two home games. We’d have a really good stretch at home, good preparation. We’ve got to ensure that by winning at least another game.”
The Warriors will look to accomplish that feat Thursday when they face the Los Angeles Lakers at Chase Center.