Behind Stephen Curry’s recent return to the Golden State Warriors’ lineup, hope springs eternal. He had already missed two games due to a pelvic contusion. Curry only played a little more than a half during their game against the Toronto Raptors. Then, he took a particularly scary spill that left him with a serious injury. Exhibit C: The Golden State Warriors, who didn’t just choose to rest good-but-not-great players, exhibit B style. In hindsight, Curry’s week-long absence was a blessing in disguise, providing him with plenty of time to rest and recuperate.
Curry’s return was marked by his participation in the Warriors’ clash against the New Orleans Pelicans. And though he still struggled with timing and overall endurance, Curry finished with 34 minutes of action. He scored 23 points and provided six assists, helping the Warriors snap a two-game losing streak with a decisive 111-95 victory over the Pelicans. Sweating off frozen yogurt Curry shot 7-for-21 overall, 5-of-16 from three.
“I mean I know there’s all that talk with the volume or the load that I’ve been through, but physically I felt well and felt good and had some juice every night.”
Curry’s current contusion is similar to one he played through during the 2020-21 season. At that time, he sustained a painful fall on the courtside stairs during a game against Houston. During one of those excursions in December, 2019, he fell and developed a hairline fracture in his tailbone. Unlike three years ago, though, Curry got off lucky and escaped with no fractures, just a deep contusion to deal with.
“Mentally I was away from the team for three days [right after the injury] so that was just kind of weird but could fill the cup up a little bit.”
So … Curry was feeling relief that he avoided a more severe injury. His Twitter video came with the acknowledgement that the contusion was going to stay with him for a bit. He came back from his injury less than 10 days later. His return really did energize the Warriors, inspiring them to take down the New Orleans Pelicans and avoid a winless homestand.
“Then thought I was going to play in Miami and kind of went through the routine but wasn’t able to go. So it was another two days to kind of get my mind right. I think it should be a good run all the way to our last game. You got nine games left, so we got to win as many we can.”
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