Getty Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors.
While the Golden State Warriors’ struggles this season are largely due to their inconsistent depth pieces, they have also been forced to jump through some hoops when it comes to injuries. Most of their key rotational pieces have missed significant time this year.
Stephen Curry has been sidelined for a few weeks due to a leg injury, and without their star point guard, the Warriors will never be able to reach their ceiling. Well, luckily for Golden State, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN just provided a very positive update regarding Curry’s return from injury.
“ESPN Sources: There’s optimism Golden State’s Steph Curry (left lower leg) will return sometime on next week’s three-game road trip, which begins Sunday vs. Lakers. Warriors play Thunder on Tuesday and Grizzlies on Thursday. Curry has been out since suffering injury on Feb. 4,” Wojnarowski tweeted.
If the Warriors want to maintain their spot in the tightly-contested Western Conference playoff race, they will need to finish the season strong, so the final stretch of the season will be extremely important.
Getting Curry back out on the floor should be the team’s top priority, as when he is healthy, he plays at an MVP level. Guys like Jordan Poole and Klay Thompson have been able to step up in his absence, but it’s impossible to completely replace what Curry brings to the table.
When he was healthy, Curry was playing extremely well this season. He has appeared in 38 of the team’s 62 games this year and is playing 34.6 minutes per contest. The superstar point guard is averaging 29.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 6.4 assists per game on 49.5% shooting from the field and 42.7% shooting from behind the three-point line.
Klay Thompson Issues Warning to Rest of NBA
Despite Curry’s absence, the Warriors have gone on a little winning streak as of late. They have won three games in a row, and Thompson is a big reason why. He’s been on fire recently. After the Warriors’ 23-point comeback win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night, Thompson sent a warning to the rest of the NBA.
“I feel it. Yeah, we all feel it,” Thompson said via NBC Sports Bay Area when asked about the momentum Golden State has right now. “With 20 games left, it’s such a golden opportunity for us to increase our seeding. Just getting a great rhythm and these role guys are getting such a great experience right now, it’s going to pay off huge come playoff time. And I promise you this, when we’re healthy, no one wants to see us in the postseason. I promise you that. I mean, we expect to win a championship. While we’re here, everything else is falling short. And that’s a special, privileged position to be in. Not many franchises can wholeheartedly say that.”
Andre Iguodala Compares Stephen Curry to Jesus
But just because Thompson has been dominating lately doesn’t mean the Warriors shouldn’t be eager to get Curry back on the floor. In fact, during an appearance on a recent edition of Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast, Warriors forward Andre Iguodala compared Curry to Jesus Christ.
“It’s funny cuz my first, when I signed with Warriors in 2013, and you do the press conference, you say what you’re supposed to say. PC. I’m coming here to try to win a championship. Nobody takes you serious but…I’m saying to myself, I’ve met the closest thing to Jesus Christ,” said Iguodala. “Not to put that on him. But I’ve never seen an individual, he doesn’t stray away from who he is in terms of who he is as a person. So you know what you’re getting night in, night out. And I can see it. And so I’m thinking, I’m about to go try to win a championship.”