Getty Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors
After being sidelined for over a month, Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry made his return to the lineup on Sunday. Curry’s start against the Los Angeles Lakers was his first since suffering a lower-leg injury on February 4.
Prior to his return to the floor, Curry took to Twitter, sending a simple message to Dub Nation.
He tweeted, “Lock In!” less than an hour before tip.
Lock in! #DubNation
The news of Curry’s return first broke on March 2. Chris Haynes of TNT and Bleacher Report was first to report Golden State’s good news.
“Golden State star Stephen Curry (leg) intends to make his return on Sunday on the road against the Los Angeles Lakers barring a setback, league sources tell NBA on TNT, Bleacher Report,” Haynes tweeted Thursday night.
Golden State star Stephen Curry (leg) intends to make his return on Sunday on the road against the Los Angeles Lakers barring a setback, league sources tell @NBAonTNT, @BleacherReport.
The Warriors were undoubtedly pumped to hear that their legendary point guard was ready to go. This season, Curry is averaging 29.4 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6.4 assists while shooting nearly 50% from the field and 43.7% from deep.
Warriors’ Steve Kerr Says Stephen Curry ‘Looks Good’ Ahead of Return
The writing was on the wall as Curry approached his return to action. His head coach, Steve Kerr, gave the media a hopeful glimpse into the star’s recovery progress on March 2. Kerr explained that the 3-point king was looking good and had been committed to keeping his stamina high, despite being sidelined.
“He looks good. He’s been working really hard,” Kerr said on Thursday. “I think within days of the injury, he was on the bike. It was impressive just watching him on the bike, I mean how hard he goes. He’s really amazing when it comes to his conditioning level and his commitment to keeping it high. He’s had good chances these last few days to get up and down … We’ll re-evaluate probably in the next couple of days.”
Steve Kerr said Steph has looked good in scrimmages as of late. And his conditioning looks good too. He scrimmaged this morning. A Sunday return is a possibility.
“He’s had a good chance these last few days to get up and down. He’s getting close.”
CJ McCollum Discusses Warriors’ Resiliency After Tough Loss
Just two days before Curry’s return, the Warriors tallied their fifth straight victory, after downing the New Orleans Pelicans 108-99.
Pelicans guard CJ McCollum did what he could to give his team a shot against the Dubs. He played a game-high 40 minutes and scored 25 points in the process.
After his team’s tough loss, McCollum spoke the media and highlighted the resiliency of the Warriors.
“I mean, whenever you lose, it’s not ideal. But I mean, we competed,” McCollum said via the Pelicans’ official YouTube channel. “We gave ourselves a chance. A couple plays that didn’t go our way down the stretch, but all in all, I mean, you give up 108 points. Twenty-six in the fourth. That second quarter hurt us. [In the] third quarter, the Warriors are very good. Historically, they go on runs in the third quarter. I mean, we only give up 28 points. But I think for us, it’s just about executing, trying to get stops, and then, when you’re playing against a team like that, you can’t give them two and three opportunities to score. It’s hard enough to stop them the first time, and then when they get kick-out threes, I think that makes it difficult. But all in all, I think we gave ourselves a chance. We just gotta get more stops, we got to play with more force, and we got to execute better.”