Steph Curry Updates Knee Injury Return Timeline During Lakers Game

During the fourth quarter of Saturday's game between the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers, ESPN's Malika Andrews asked Stephen Curry about his knee injury.

"I'm feeling better," Curry said. "This is a weird one. It's kinda unpredictable how it will heal, but every day since All-Star Weekend it's been progress. That's all I can ask for. Hopefully I'll be back out there soon."

Andrews then asked what he's expecting to hear when he's re-evaluated on Sunday.

"It's gonna be a little bit longer," Curry said. "Right now, with this one, it's just about, can you stack good days, and I've done that. So hopefully I can at least be on the court soon."

Curry then explained if returning has anything to do with pain tolerance.

"Once I get back on the court, it is a little bit of a pain-tolerance thing. But it's something that you don't want to have lingering because it can get worse."

Curry has missed the Warriors' last 10 games with "runner's knee." He had setback around All-Star Weekend that has made this recovery longer than expected.

Curry has now missed 21 games this season, meaning he's ineligible for an All-NBA selection. Coming into this season, Curry had made an All-NBA team in 11 of the last 12 seasons.

Warriors Have Daunting Next 3 Games

Even with Curry, the next three games were going to be very challenging. Without him, winning one of the three would be great.

First, the Warriors play the Clippers on Monday. Los Angeles has lost three straight, but all were very close games against playoff teams. Before that stretch, the Clippers won 21 of 28 games. And they are expected to get trade deadline acquisition Darius Garland healthy for his LAC debut against the Warriors.

After the Clippers game, the Warriors play the Rockets in Houston. And then they play the Thunder in Oklahoma City.

Golden State has no reason to rush Curry back. Even if they lose all three, the Warriors (31-29) will have plenty of time to pass the Blazers (29-32) or Clippers (27-31) if one gets ahead of them.

Golden State should be targeting eighth place at worst. Teams that are in seventh and eighth get two chances in the play-in tournament to win one game to make the playoffs. Teams in ninth and 10th have to win both games in the play-in tournament to make the playoffs.