OAKLAND, Calif. — Stephen Curry surprised coach Steve Kerr with how quickly he found his groove the past two playoff games after returning from a knee injury, even with a few more misses than usual for the NBA’s two-time MVP.
Now, Curry and the Golden State Warriors push into the Western Conference finals against Oklahoma City counting on their superstar guard to be fully healthy for an entire round for the first time this postseason.
There’s no way Curry won’t be making as big an impact as he possibly can as the defending NBA champions move closer to their goal of a repeat title.
“Hopefully, it will be close to 100 percent by Monday night,” Curry said after practice Friday.
Curry’s fellow Splash Brother, Klay Thompson, who carried the load on both ends of the court during Curry’s absence for much of the first two rounds, is counting on it. So far, Curry’s return has been seamless — even more so than Kerr had foreseen. The league’s coach of the year figured there might be a transition period as everybody got comfortable again.
“It has (been smooth),” Thompson said. “Anyone can see that. (Curry) hasn’t missed a beat.”
Draymond Green practiced after injuring his left ankle during Wednesday’s series clincher against Portland, while 7-foot center Andrew Bogut sat out Friday’s workout with a strained muscle in his right leg.
The hope was that Bogut would return to practice Saturday and be ready for Monday night’s Game 1 of the best-of-seven West finals against the Thunder at Oracle Arena. An MRI wasn’t in the plans for Bogut’s injury, Kerr said.
After a whirlwind week that included becoming the NBA’s first unanimous MVP on Tuesday, Curry looked forward to taking some much-needed downtime before the next round to rest his body and mind. He averaged 30.1 points per game this season.
“You go from missing about three weeks or 2½ weeks to playing significant minutes in 48 hours, especially with what the day in between was like, and it kind of shocks your body,” Curry said.
