When the Warriors hit the court for the first time after the All-Star break, Golden State will be without superstar guard Steph Curry.

Curry will miss his sixth consecutive game Thursday against the Celtics due to runner’s knee, coach Steve Kerr said after Wednesday’s Warriors practice according to The Athletic’s Nick Friedell. In better news for Golden State, Kerr said that he’s hopeful that deadline acquisition Kristaps Porziņģis will make his Warriors debut on Thursday.

Porziņģis hasn’t played since Jan. 7 when he was still a member of the Atlanta Hawks. He’s appeared in just 17 games this season, but Kerr said the Warriors were optimistic about his availability moving forward or Golden State wouldn’t have made the trade to bring in Porziņģis in exchange for Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield.

Curry missed All-Star festivities and hasn’t played since Jan. 30 when he limped off the floor in the second half of a loss to the Pistons. Friedell reported that Curry will be re-evaluated Wednesday night and may need another MRI after missing practice on Wednesday.

How dire are the Warriors’ injury woes?

Curry’s prolonged absence couldn’t have come at a worse time for Golden State after his No. 2 Jimmy Butler went down with a torn ACL on Jan. 20. Butler’s injury came two weeks ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline which gave general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. some time to improve the roster to try and capitalize on the twilight of Curry’s career as much as possible. That upgrade came in the form of Porziņģis, who’s a great fit alongside Curry when he’s available. The kicker is that the floor-spacing big man has played in just 59 games over the past two seasons. His return is forthcoming, Kerr says, but his availability for the rest of the season isn’t a certainty based on recent history.

At the All-Star break, the Warriors are 29-26 and firmly in the Western Conference’s play-in tournament conversation at the No. 8 seed. Golden State is 2 1/2 games in front of the Trail Blazers and Clippers who are ninth and tenth place in the West, respectively. The Grizzlies are the first team out of the play-in as we currently stand and the Warriors have an eight-game buffer on Memphis. Golden State will likely make the postseason, but the play-in isn’t an ideal path with a first-round series with either the Thunder or Spurs the most likely outcome for the teams who make it out.

The Warriors are 4 1/2 games back of the sixth-place Timberwolves to automatically advance to the first round without any play-in games. The All-Star break was needed for Curry to get healthy, but the clock is ticking on Golden State if its star guard isn’t able to get back on the floor soon, losing four of its past six games before the downtime.

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