Steph Curry ruled out for Warriors’ game with 76ers over knee injury
SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors will be without their top player for their final game before Thursday afternoon’s trade deadline.
Steph Curry was ruled out of Tuesday’s matchup with the 76ers, which came as little surprise after the team diagnosed him with patellofemoral pain syndrome over the weekend. Known more commonly as “runner’s knee,” the only remedy for that soreness is rest.
“(When he returns) will totally be up to (team doctor) Rick (Celebrini) and Steph,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after Monday’s practice. “As soon as Rick tells me he can play, he’ll play, but they’re working together every day.”
Curry left Friday’s game against the Pistons midway through the third quarter and did not return.
With the All-Star game taking place in about two weeks, Curry’s status for his 12th appearance in that star-studded exhibition is also in doubt.
After taking on the 76ers, the Warriors will travel to Phoenix to play the Suns on Thursday. After that, Golden State stays on the road and will play at the Lakers in Los Angeles on Saturday.
Joining Curry on the inactive list is Jonathan Kuminga, who will miss a fifth consecutive game with knee soreness.
“He got some on-court work in before practice, but the injury’s at a point, the recovery’s at a point where he’s not yet ready to go live,” Kerr said.
Kerr also said he has been in communication with Jimmy Butler since the star tore his ACL, but that he was not at liberty to share details about when Butler will undergo surgery.
Warriors public relations director Raymond Ridder later said that Butler’s agent Bernie Lee will determine when more information will be released on the procedure.
Melton’s trajectory
De’Anthony Melton has been, arguably, the team’s second-best player since Butler was lost for the season. He has averaged 14.5 points per game since the start of January, chipping in 2.2 assists while scoring at a 56.9 effective FG% and being one of the few Warriors capable of creating pressure on a defense off a live dribble.
What has made his impact even more remarkable is that the 27-year-old is coming off ACL rehab and has been confined to a 25-minute limit since late December. That is actually an increase from the first few weeks of his season, when he was allowed to play on 20 minutes or less a night after debuting in early December.
So given the team’s shortage of perimeter scorers, could the team give Melton a starter’s workload of 30 MPG or more? Steve Kerr hopes that will eventually be the case, but says the team is in no rush to make that happen.
“I talked to Rick (Celebrini) about that the other day, and he said that’s something we can aim for, but not yet,” Kerr said. “A two-year absence means a very slow ramp up for that, and I think Rick, the staff and Melt have handled it perfectly. See where he is now compared to six weeks ago when he came back, and it’s pretty dramatic.”