Steve Kerr on Stephen Curry: ‘There’s no way he’s playing in the 1st round’

Stephen Curry’s return didn’t last long. The Golden State Warriors star left Friday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks with a knee injury and did not return after teammate JaVale McGee fell into his legs on a block attempt. The injury was deemed a Grade 2 MCL sprain on Saturday, and he is expected to be reevaluated in three weeks.

“There’s no way he’s playing in the first round,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr told reporters on Sunday. “There’s no way.”

Here is Kerr’s full answer:

Oh, there’s no way he’s playing in the first round. There’s no way. He’s being reevaluated in three weeks. We’ve got to be ready to play without him and see how he’s coming around. The good thing is we’ve been through this. We went through it last year with [Kevin Durant]. ... It wasn’t exactly the same timeline, but it was a similar injury and similar circumstances where we had to play without one of our best players. We felt that appropriate fear and turned it up and got it going. And when KD came back, [he won] Finals MVP after missing six weeks.

There’s a lot of similarities here. We should feel good about our ability to play through this stuff. We also know that Steph has a history of coming back strong from injuries, so there’s a good chance if all goes well, and he comes back during the playoffs, we’re at full steam. That’s the goal.

Curry would like to return sooner, and said so in a Sunday press conference. But then again, what is he supposed to say?

The first round begins on April 14, and could run through the end of the month, depending on the series. Golden State will presumably know more about Curry’s timetable for returning when he is reevaluated around that time.

Friday had been Curry’s first game back after missing six straight with an ankle sprain — the fourth time he had missed games due to an ankle sprain this year. On this play, Curry was able to limp off the court under his own power, albeit in clear distress and visibly frustrated.

Curry suffered a similar, but less severe, MCL sprain in the 2016 postseason, and it caused him to miss two weeks during those playoffs.

Golden State as a team has been injury ravaged: Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green each have injuries keeping them out, although Green’s isn’t considered serious and Durant is expected back relatively soon. Thompson has a broken thumb on his right hand, but he’s also expected back for the playoffs.

The Warriors need Curry and a fully healthy roster as they go deeper into the postseason, but they have survived without him in the early rounds before, even with a team that didn’t have Durant. They surely expect the same thing here, but the early rounds at least seem much more interesting now.