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Steph Curry Gives Worrisome Update on Knee Injury as Warriors Hit Rough Stretch of Schedule

Steph Curry hasn’t played since January with a lingering knee injury.
Steph Curry hasn’t played since January with a lingering knee injury. | David Gonzales-Imagn Images

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After another absence in a 129–101 loss to the Lakers on Saturday night the Warriors officially went without Steph Curry for the entire month of February. It’s been a difficult season in that regard already for Golden State; the team lost Jimmy Butler to a torn ACL in January and its headline midseason trade acquisition, Kristaps Porziņģis, has only played once since joining the roster at the deadline. Based on Curry’s latest update there isn’t much reason for optimism in the near future, either.

Speaking to ESPN’s Malika Andrews during the broadcast of the Dubs’ loss to Los Angeles, Curry described his nagging knee injury as “weird” and “kind of unpredictable” and wasn’t able to offer anything resembling a concrete timeline for his return.

“I’m feeling better,” Curry acknowledged. “This is a weird one. It’s kind of unpredictable how it’ll heal. Every day since All-Star Weekend has been progress, that’s all I can ask for. Hopefully I’m back out [there] soon ... It’s going to be a little longer. Right now with this one, it’s about each day, can you stack good days? I’ve done that. Hopefully they can unleash me on the court sooner than later.

“I haven’t gotten back on the court yet. But just trying to stay in shape, strengthen everything else around the body, knowing at this stage, once you get back, it's a full sprint to the playoffs. Once I get back on the court, it's a little bit of a pain tolerance thing. But it's just something you don't want lingering because it can get worse.”

It is obviously good news that Curry is feeling better. He’s been out since before the All-Star break with what the team described as “runner’s knee,” a condition that usually consists of persistent swelling and pain in the knee. However, Warriors fans can’t be thrilled to hear the franchise star admit it’s a “weird” injury and may continue to cause him pain even when he’s healthy enough to get back to playing.

On that front, this update didn’t inspire much confidence Curry would be back soon. He’ll need to be cleared to return to on-court practice before he can get back into the lineup. There will presumably be a ramp-up period included so even a return to practice doesn’t immediately precipitate a return to play.

It’s a rough situation for everybody. Curry, averaging 27.2 points per game this year, is one of the most exciting players in the NBA and it’s always a bummer when injury robs fans of his electrifying presence—especially when it’s not clear how many years the 37-year-old has left at the peak of powers.

As for the Warriors they’ll continue to struggle to win without Curry on the floor. Golden State is 4–6 without him since he last played on January 30. This latest update suggesting he’s still not that close to coming back comes at a rough time in the schedule, too.

Latest Steph Curry injury news comes as Warriors embark upon difficult stretch

The beginning of March is not kind matchup-wise for Golden State and Curry will be missed more than ever as a result.

The team’s next three games come against playoff opponents. The Clippers (10th seed) on Monday night make for the easiest opponent of the bunch; the Warriors are slated to take on the Rockets (third seed) on Thursday and the Thunder (first seed) on Saturday. They get a brief reprieve in the form of the Jazz and Bulls on a back-to-back starting on Monday of next week before the gauntlet continues. The Timberwolves (sixth seed) will come to town on Mar. 13, after which Golden State embarks upon a road trip that will include trips to Madison Square Garden to play the Knicks (third seed) and TD Garden to play the Celtics (second seed). After all that the top-seeded Pistons await on Mar. 20.

All in all the Warriors play seven playoff teams in their next 10 games. They have to take on the top seed in each conference on the road. The Dubs would be hard-pressed to win most of those games even with Curry but without him it feels like they have no shot. And based on the superstar shooter’s comments above a return in the next two or so weeks is far from guaranteed.

But all Golden State really needs to do is avoid completely bottoming out. The team is firmly in the eighth spot in the West standings, holding a 2 1/2 game lead over the Trail Blazers in ninth and trailing the seventh-seed Suns by three games. Avoiding the play-in seems like a pipe dream but falling out of the picture entirely is not likely barring a total collapse.

Still, a tough stretch lays ahead, made significantly tougher by Curry’s extended absence.


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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.

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