The Golden State Warriors narrowly lost in Stephen Curry’s return from injury against the Houston Rockets on Sunday night.
After missing 27 games in a row with runner’s knee and getting the opportunity to announce his comeback on national television, it felt destined we’d witness one of those Steph-tastic performances.
That wasn’t far from the case actually.
Curry, 38, just a week after not even participating in a five-on-five practice scrimmage, threw on the white and blue uniform and poured in 29 points against Houston’s Amen Thompson-led stingy defense. Nineteen of Curry’s total came in the first half.
GettyFans react as Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors goes to the floor after being fouled.
The game boiled down to one moment, a tiny episode we’ve seen Curry own all too many times before.
Electing not to use their final timeout, the Warriors put the ball in their best player’s hands full court. Curry trotted up the court, and here came four-time title-winning teammate Draymond Green to run the timeless pick-and-roll action.
Curry scanned, Curry shuffled, Curry keeked at the second ticking off the game clock.
Before long, he gave it a couple of fancy dribble moves and fired away from Steph range. No good.
Had he had another game or two under his legs coming off injury, perhaps that shot touches nothing but nylon. The Warriors instead fell to their fourth straight loss, but hopes remain high.
Warriors reveal Stephen Curry starting lineup decision moving forward
On Sunday, for the first time in 14 years, Curry came off the bench.
The decision was intended to help Curry ease into the game and better stagger his minutes in his first game since Jan. 30. That was nearly 70 days ago.
The formula appeared to work; Curry played an awesome game by coming-off-a-long-injury standards. Being limited to no more than six minutes a quarter restrained some of his momentum, but was helpful in avoiding any re-injury risk.
Fans can expect Curry’s capacity to be somewhat limited over these final four games of the regular season. After all, what Curry, Golden State and just about everyone else wants is to see the two-time MVP back to full form for the opening game of the play-in tournament. Because there’s no looking back from there if a win is not obtained.
After Monday’s practice, head coach Steve Kerr outlined how the team will continue to manage Curry and when the 38-year-old Warriors star will re-gain his spot in the starting lineup.
“He’s obviously going to be in the starting lineup here before long,” Kerr said, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. “Can he play enough minutes to space it out accordingly where he’s not sitting for two long stretches? … We’d like to bump those minutes up if we can. It’s just going to be a process, whatever Rick thinks.”
Curry, Warriors face a steep degree of difficulty
Picture this: you’re limited to lighter movement for two months and can’t practice with the team. Suddenly, you are being thrown into a playoff-level game with the burden of the outcome on your shoulders.
Now that simply doesn’t seem fair.
But that’s what Curry is effectively being asked to do.
Because he won’t be playing one of the games in the Warriors’ final back-to-back set of the season, Curry will have played in a total of four games before next week’s play-in game. He has little time to get his body back up to speed, which is especially challenging for a 38-year-old who spent two-plus months in street clothes.
Curry is likely to play tonight’s home tilt against the Sacramento Kings. It’ll be an opportunity to get two games in three nights and see how he feels the next day.
Golden State is all but bound to the 10th seed. Winning isn’t nearly as crucial as managing Curry’s load and getting the entire team as healthy as possible.
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