Warriors guard Steph Curry returned to action in the team’s 117-116 Sunday loss to the Houston Rockets, marking his first taste of action since Jan. 30.
Coming off the bench for the first time in the regular season since 2012, Curry poured in 29 points on 11-of-21 shooting from the field and 5-of-10 shooting from 3-point range.
While the Warriors certainly are thrilled to have him back, Warriors coach Steve Kerr confirmed at Monday’s practice that he and the team’s director of sports medicine, Rick Celebrini, will be cautious with Curry’s return.
“Rick Celebrini and I haven’t talked about what the number is, but we’ve talked about just the idea that there needs to be a ramp-up this week,” Kerr told reporters. “We need to do it responsibly. Last night was a great start, but the idea would be he’s obviously going to be in the starting lineup here before long. Can he play enough minutes to space it out accordingly, where he’s not sitting for too long [of] stretches? Which is why he came off the bench last night, it just felt better for him, but we’d like to bump those minutes up if we can. It’s just going to be a process of whatever Rick thinks.”
On Saturday, the 38-year-old sharpshooter admitted that the knee issue and how he works around it moving forward is a part of his “new normal.”
“Yes and no,” Curry said. “There’s nothing structurally wrong with my knee. So, it’s not like I’m compromised out there. It is a new normal, though, if that makes sense. It’s just a matter of understanding what I need to do off the court to make sure everything around my knee is strong and firing the right way.”
Ahead of Tuesday’s clash with the Sacramento Kings, Curry is listed as probable. The game is set to tip at 7 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Bay Area.
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