Warriors Delay Next Step in Steph Curry Injury Return Timeline

There was hope that Stephen Curry would participate in a five-on-five scrimmage during the Golden State Warriors' Sunday practice, but that did not happen.

The Athletic's Nick Friedell wrote that "there wasn’t a setback — just want to give him another couple days before taking the next step."

Curry has already been ruled out for the Warriors' Monday game against the Dallas Mavericks. He will be re-evaluated before Golden State takes the court against the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday.

Curry has missed the last 21 games with runner's knee. The Warriors have gone 6-15 without him.

Warriors Must Win Next 3 Games to Have Any Shot at Eighth in West

The good news is the Warriors' next three games are against opponents with worse records than they have. The bad news is they can't afford to lose any of them.

The current Western Conference standings are as follows:

8. Clippers 35-36
9. Trail Blazers 35-37
10. Warriors 33-38

The Warriors play the Mavericks (losers of 12 of 14), Nets (losers of 17 of 19) and Wizards (losers of 16 straight) over the next five days.

After that, the schedule gets much tougher.

The Warriors finish off March with a road game against the Nuggets, and then they start April with a home back-to-back against the Spurs and Cavaliers.

It goes without saying the Warriors will need Curry when the schedule gets more challenging, but it would be nice for him to play a game or two against non-playoff teams to get into a rhythm.

We'll see if the injury allows him to get back for the Nets or Wizards game.

Warriors Desperate for Offensive Lift

There are plenty of stats that show the Warriors need Curry, and I'll list a few here.

In the last 21 games, only one Warrior has scored 30 points. That was Kristaps Porzingis against the Wizards when Porzingis had exactly 30. In 39 games this season, Curry has 14 30-point games.

In the last 21 games, the Warriors have an offensive rating of 111.3, per NBA.com. That would rank sixth-worst in the league. This season, the Warriors have an offensive rating of 118.0 with Curry on the court. That would rank fourth-best.

Curry has an Offensive Box Plus-Minus of plus-6.3. Among Warriors who a) aren't out for the season and b) have played at least 60 minutes, Porzingis is the only other Golden State player with an OBPM of over 0.3 (Porzingis' is 2.0).

It goes without saying that the Warriors are desperate for Curry's scoring and the opportunities his gravity provides for everyone else.