OAKLAND -- Stephen Curry feels good enough to return to the court this weekend, barely a week after leaving the Warriors' lineup upon tweaking his right ankle. The Warriors are holding him out, and they have their reasons.
They're working on much more than Curry's ankle.
"We're trying to build up the strength as best we can around the ankle," coach Steve Kerr said Wednesday, shortly before tipoff against the Lakers. "The training staff felt an extra week or 10 days of intense rehabilitation will put him in a much better position to play through the rest of the year with less risk of spraining the ankle again."
It's a strategy Curry, who turned 30 on Wednesday, has accepted, though somewhat grudgingly.
"Selfishly, I was always keying in on tonight, just because it was a big day. You only turn 30 once," he said earlier Wednesday. "But you have to keep a big-picture perspective. I understood the thought process around not just how my ankle feels today versus next Wednesday, versus next Friday or whatever, but the things I need to do, rehab-wise, to strengthen with my core and everything that protects your ankle, so that when I do come back, I'm ready."
The goal is for Curry to have eight or so games before the playoffs. He will be reevaluated next Tuesday, after which a timeline may be established.
Klay Thompson, out with a fracture in his right thumb, also is scheduled for reevaluation next week, two days after Curry. The Warriors are hopeful of getting him back the first week of April. The playoffs begin April 14.
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"I actually look at this, long-term, as a positive," Kerr said, pointing out that Thompson has missed 13 games in his career. "The guy's a machine. Even without the thumb, we were considering giving him a game or two off down the stretch. He's looked a little more spent recently. So I look at this as a positive."
