Steve Kerr Still Lists Stephen Curry As “Doubtful”, “Slowly But Surely Making Progress”

MODA CENTER, PORTLAND, OR — A day after sitting out again in the Game 3 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, here are some important quotes from Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr pertaining to the current status of Stephen Curry for Game 4.

As transcribed by Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group, including reaction from Ian Clark on guarding Curry in 3-on-3:

“Conditioning’s going to be an issue,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “But hopefully he can get more and more work, and we’ll see how he comes up tomorrow in terms of getting a night of sleep coming off the workout. I would just say he’s doubtful for tomorrow. But we’re slowly but surely making progress.”
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“You talk to both parties,” Kerr said. “You trust the medical staff in terms of, is there potential for more damage? Then you trust the player with how he’s feeling. Steph, even when he’s lobbied, like in the Houston series when he hurt his ankle, he would lobby and then admit, ‘no, it’s probably not right.’ So I know that we will get a truthful answer from Steph. He’s not going to try to be a hero and will make the reasonable decision based on all the information.”

More:

• “I would just say he’s doubtful for tomorrow, but he’s slowly but surely making progress.”
• “The question will be extended minutes. We’ll figure it out when we get there. That would be a good problem to have.”
• “We did a warm-up and we did some skill stuff and he did all of that.”
• “We’ll see how he is in the morning (after shootaround).”
• “Even when he’s lobbied, like in the Houston series when he hurt his ankle, he would lobby and then admit, ‘Nah, it’s probably not right.'”
• “He looked good (in terms of lateral movement today).”

Bottom line: the assumption is Curry would tell Kerr the truth about the health of his knee, over the yearning to play. With Kerr already saying that he wouldn’t risk Curry’s career over one game, the mini-drama of whether or not Curry will play in Game 4 boils down to how his knee responds.

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