ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — The Golden State Warriors are about to take on the Orlando Magic after returning home on a five-game road trip.
[Click on the left and right arrows of the featured image above to scroll through the pre-game photo gallery!]Here’s what happened at morning shootaround and pre-game at Oracle today…
MORNING SHOOTAROUND: Steph Passes On Speaking To Media
Stephen Curry tweaked his ankle in the win at the Detroit Pistons two nights ago, sitting out the last 8:38. He was listed as “questionable” for tonight’s game when media arrived at the Warriors practice facility in Oakland.
But at morning shootaround, he was able to jump up off the floor and dunk the basketball after his usual routine of shooting three-pointers and free throws.
Media had requested both Marreese Speights and Curry to be made available.
Speights talked about the team’s fun plane rides (aka “Chronicles of CoCo“), but when it was time for Curry to take the interviewee’s seat, he passed, knowing that there would be endless questions about his ankle.
Warriors PR also announced that Klay Thompson was also questionable, with a right quadricep contusion.
PRE-GAME: Kerr Announces That Curry Will Be Evaluated Right Before Tipoff, Gives Update On Lee
At the pre-game press conference, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr was, of course, asked about the status of both Curry and Klay.
He said that both would be evaluated right before tipoff, as trainer JoHan Wang wanted to get a good look at their situations after both shootaround and warmups.
Kerr was also asked about David Lee‘s progress. Lee was supposed to practice with the team on the road trip, but was sent home early after the Detroit game to get some more rehab. Kerr said that he told Lee, “We’re gonna need him…to get where we want to be.”
After each pre-game presser, Kerr then goes to a corner to speak with Warriors radio broadcaster Tim Roye for exclusive sound bites for KNBR 680 AM. That’s when Bay Area News Group reporter Carl Steward apparently overheard Kerr saying that he expected both Curry and Thompson to play: “My guess is, they’ll play.”
Back out on the court, we found Curry shooting around. There were no other players shooting at the time. He seemed to have absolutely no signs of injury to the left ankle, as you can see for yourself in our video clip.
According to Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle, Curry told Simmons that he’s playing “for sure”.
Kerr was also asked during the presser about the team’s progress, to which he replied that, besides Lee’s injury, the Warriors had not faced the inevitable down sides that are sure to come.
“What I’m interested in is how we handle adversity,” Kerr said.
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