So far, the Golden State Warriors have looked just fine — thank you very much — without one Stephen Curry in the lineup. And as Dan Feldman and I discussed in the latest PBT podcast, they likely will be able to handle the Portland Trail Blazers without him as well. They don’t need to rush him back.
But Curry is rushing himself back and wants to beat the two-week timeline for his strained MCL that the doctors put out there, reports Monte Poole of CSNBayArea.com.
In his quest to get full range of motion in R knee, Steph Curry says he's getting treatment 3x a day. He's not ready for shooting drills.
— Monte Poole (@MontePooleNBCS) April 29, 2016
Steph says he's pleased that Warriors won playoff series in 5 with him playing s total of 38 minutes.
— Monte Poole (@MontePooleNBCS) April 29, 2016
More Steph: He will try to return ahead of original 2-wk minimum absence. (May 9)
— Monte Poole (@MontePooleNBCS) April 29, 2016
Coach Steve Kerr said Curry looked good in treatment but did not do any work on the court.
Athletes are the worst people to ask about their own recovery timelines; they don’t get to top levels of their sport without supreme confidence and a certain feeling of invulnerability. They are always sure they can bounce back faster than the doctors say — sometimes that’s true, but not often.
So long as the Warriors are not pressured by Portland (sorry Clipper fans, you’re not advancing without CP3 and Griffin), they are under no pressure to rush him back. That second round series is expected to start Sunday in the Bay Area, if the Warriors can hold serve through the first two games then they can keep Curry on the sidelines for a couple of weeks, let the knee rest completely, and bring him back on their own terms.
The Warriors will need him back for the Conference Finals and beyond, but more than that this is a Golden State team set up to be a contender for the next four or five years, you don’t want to create a bigger problem for future years pushing too hard for a title this season if he’s not right.
