SAN FRANCISCO -- As the return of Steph Curry looms, Warriors coach Steve Kerr cast doubt on his targeted March 1 return date against the Wizards, citing Curry's lack of full-speed reps in recent days.
"He’s only scrimmaged twice," Kerr said following Wednesday's practice. "In fact, I think he needs to scrimmage more before he’s ready to play. We’ll see how it all plays out."
Curry -- who broke his hand Oct. 30 -- participated in a scrimmage Wednesday morning, in a run that included Draymond Green, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Dragan Bender, assistant coaches Luke Loucks and Theo Robertson and Seth Tarver -- who played collegiately at Oregon State and is a longtime friend of guard Klay Thompson. This is the second scrimmage for Curry during his rehab process. On Saturday, Curry also participated in a scrimmage. As he progressed, The Athletic reported that Curry will indeed make his debut Sunday against the Wizards, in line with what Curry has said on record in recent days.
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SIGN UP HERE Nonetheless, Kerr pushed back on the notion that the date is a formality.
"I think yesterday’s report, which was news to us, is not official," Kerr said. "Nothing’s official. Steph will play when he’s ready to go. That date has been something that’s for sure on Steph’s mind. But he’ll play when we all feel like he’s ready to go. I think he needs some more scrimmage time."
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Sunday's targeted return date is a culmination of a rigorous rehabilitation stretch. In December, the two-time MVP underwent his second surgery to remove a screw in the second metacarpal. Since the surgery, Curry frequently has been seen on road trips participating in strenuous workouts following practices. Still, Kerr says the guard may not be ready.
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"He’s been out for four months and he’s been doing a ton of individual work. But to put someone in an NBA game, you have to feel really, really comfortable that everything is there conditioning-wise, strength-wise," Kerr said. "And a lot of that you can’t simulate unless it’s actual basketball. He’s done everything that Rick [Celebrini] has asked of him and more. His individual workouts have been taxing but two scrimmages against non-NBA players -- no offense to them -- doesn’t exactly qualify as perfect preparation."
In the interim, Curry -- who was averaging 23.5 points in four-game prior to the injury -- will participate in scheduled practices Wednesday and Friday before his re-evaluation on Saturday.
