The Golden State Warriors will start their second-round playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers in Oakland on Sunday.
The defending champions will do so without the services of reigning NBA MVP Stephen Curry, who sprained his MCL against the Houston Rockets last weekend.
The original diagnosis indicated that Curry would be out two weeks. Though, there has been some optimism that Curry will return before then.
While not sounding too confident about a really quick return, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr refused to rule Curry out for Game 2 against the Blazers on Tuesday:
Steve Kerr on Steph Curry: "I'm not going to rule him out for Tuesday (Game 2 against Portland) but there's obviously not much of a chance."
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) April 30, 2016
Curry has yet to hit the practice court since injuring his knee a week ago Sunday. He has, however, shown tremendous progress off the court. Suggestions on Thursday were that he’d be able to attempt to practice early this upcoming week.
Whether that is an indication Curry will be able to go Tuesday is a completely different story. Golden State simply isn’t ready to rush its best player back to the court, especially considering his knee injury came immediately after the MVP tweaked his ankle earlier in the Houston series.