Stephen Curry injury update: Warriors star vows to return quickly
Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry is not ruling himself out of playing in the first round of the forthcoming 2018 NBA Playoffs. On Saturday (Sunday AEDT), the Warriors announced that Curry will miss a minimum of three weeks after being diagnosed with a Grade 2 MCL sprain.
According to the Warriors' timetable, Curry is to be re-evaluated on April 14, three days after the regular season finale against the Utah Jazz. With the playoffs set to get underway on the same day, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr isn't optimistic about having his star point guard back for the first round.
"There's no way he's (Curry) playing in the first round. There's no way. I mean, he'll be re-evaluated in three weeks. So, yeah, we have to be ready to play without him and see how he's coming along," Kerr said ahead of the 110-91 home loss to the Utah Jazz on Sunday (Monday AEDT).
However, Curry is eager to prove Kerr wrong. "Hopefully, I prove what coach said was wrong and put myself in position to get back as soon as possible. But right now, who knows? Just try to do my job in the rehab process and get back as soon as I can. Based on what I've been told, three weeks is a good benchmark to re-evaluate and reassess where I'm at in my progress. Mentally, for me, (I'm just) staying positive and staying upbeat," Curry said while addressing the media a day after his diagnosis, via ESPN.
Stephen Curry injury update: Warriors star hopes to return for playoffs
Curry, a former two-time league MVP, suffered the MCL injury during Friday's 106-94 home win over the Atlanta Hawks when Golden State big man JaVale McGee accidentally fell onto Curry's left leg after an unsuccessful attempt to block a shot. After enduring four ankle injuries in the same season, Curry's latest injury was a mere freak accident, an anti-climax of sorts.
A few years ago, Curry suffered a Grade 1 MCL sprain in a first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets but missed only four games. Curry, however, is struggling to draw comparisons between the two injuries.
"It was a confusing one, because I didn't know exactly what it was. I felt my MCL before with the thing in Houston, but I didn't feel that same type of pain, so I didn't know what it was ... It's kind of funny, I can joke about it now, first thing I heard from the crowd was 'where are the high tops,' because they thought it was my ankle. I didn't feel like it was a season-ending or anything. I'll be out for a little bit and get back to playing eventually."
Warriors, the defending NBA champions, have been dealing with a plethora of injuries ahead of the postseason. Besides Curry, the All-Star threesome of and Kevin Durant (rib contusion), Klay Thompson (thumb) and Draymond Green (hip) have also been out of action with injuries. Stay tuned for the latest Stephen Curry injury update.
