Kerr shares when Steph might return after missing Dubs-Thunder game originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO — Steph Curry will miss Wednesday night’s main game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Chase Center, but coach Steve Kerr expects the Warriors superstar to return in the near future. Like in the Warriors’ next game when they take on the Suns in Phoenix on Saturday night.

Curry did not participate in the Warriors’ intensive practice Tuesday after they lost two straight games in which they had large leads. He showed up on the Warriors’ injury report with bilateral patellofemoral pain, which is essentially pain in both knees, and was officially ruled out on the PT injury report Wednesday at 12:30 p.m.

Kerr said he found out Wednesday morning that Curry wouldn’t be able to play against OKC, but his injury was nothing new.

“He’s been banged up the last week,” Kerr said during his pregame press conference on Wednesday. “His knees are giving him trouble, so it wasn’t a surprise.”

Rick Celebrini, the Warriors’ director of sports medicine and performance, called Kerr on Wednesday morning and recommended not playing Curry, and the coach agreed.

In the Warriors’ 128-120 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night, Curry scored a team-high 28 points, but 16 of his 17 shot attempts were 3-pointers. It was also the seventh time this season that he played less than 30 minutes, which is half of the games he has played.

The 36-year-old is averaging just 29.7 minutes per game this season, which would be his lowest in a full season. Curry averaged 27.8 minutes when he played just five games in the 2019-20 season and 28.2 minutes in his injury-shortened third season in the NBA.

That’s the reality of “Father Time,” a wear and tear for a four-time champion coming off a summer of winning gold at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

“At 36, you’re just going to be in more pain,” Kerr said. “Fortunately the MRI he had yesterday was negative but he now needs some time to heal the tendonitis in his knees and hopefully that will happen in the next few days.”

Golden State enters the battle with Oklahoma City as the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. The Thunder are one game ahead at the top of the conference. And the Warriors will have to contend with perhaps the toughest schedule in the entire league to complete the calendar year.

But the Warriors are 3-0 without Curry this season, when he missed three games with an ankle injury after they went 3-5 a season ago in games in which he did not appear. Kerr says he learned how the Warriors can build on their strength during this stretch earlier this season, adding that he’s pleased to have multiple players facing such strong competition.

Although Kerr didn’t announce his starters, Brandin Podziemski is expected to play a big role in Curry’s absence. Podziemski struggled shooting in his second professional season, an area the Warriors will need to address if Curry can’t go. However, in the three games Curry missed, Podziemski averaged 14.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 6.0 assists while playing 36.5 minutes per game – but shot a lowly 40.9 percent overall and 27.8 percent from 3-point range.

The Warriors have an offensive rating of 121.7 with Curry on the court this season. That number drops to 106.6 if the Warriors are without him, a stat that is certainly concerning when playing the Thunder’s top defense.

The positive news is that the Warriors should get a much-needed addition against the Thunder. Jonathan Kuminga missed the Warriors’ last two games due to illness, but he practiced on Tuesday and Kerr expects him to play on Wednesday night.

Kuminga scored 20 points on 8 of 11 shooting in more than 26 minutes off the bench in the Warriors’ win over the Thunder on Nov. 10.

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