Steph Curry injury update: Warriors star ‘could play’ in potential Game 6, will be re-evaluated on Saturday

The Golden State Warriors are facing elimination on Wednesday night and star guard Steph Curry has already been ruled out for Game 5 of their second-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves. But there is some hope on the horizon: Curry, who has not played since straining his hamstring in Game 1, was re-evaluated on Wednesday and is making “good progress,” according to the team.

Prior to tipoff of Game 5, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said “it’s a possibility [Curry] could play” in Game 6 if they’re able to extend the series.

Here is the full update the Warriors released on Wednesday morning:

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, who has missed the the last three (3) games due to a strained left hamstring, has been re-evaluated. The re-evaluation indicated that Curry is making good progress in his recovery. He has been cleared to participate in light on-court workouts, including shooting drills. He will be re-evaluated again on Saturday.

The Warriors won Game 1 despite Curry’s early exit, but have lost three in a row and now find themselves down 3-1. While they were blown out on the road in Game 2, they had chances to win each of the last two games at home, but just didn’t have enough offense without Curry. 

Following his diagnosis, Curry called the injury a “gut punch,” and said he would have to let his body dictate his recovery process. 

“This is new and from all that I’m learning about how quickly you can get back, there has to be a healing process,” Curry said last week. “That’s just the way the body works. You can’t accelerate it more than what it’s telling you. After a week, [the medical staff will be] really re-evaluating every day to understand when it’s safe to even think about playing, let alone how much can you push it.”

Jimmy Butler has failed the Warriors, and Stephen Curry, when they needed him most

Brad Botkin

The good news for Curry and the Warriors is that if they can somehow find a way to win Game 5, they’ll have three full days off before Game 6 back in San Francisco on Sunday. There’s a good chance that Curry could be cleared by then, which would obviously give the Warriors a major boost. 

Winning Game 5 on the road in front of what is sure to be a raucous Minneapolis crowd is much easier said than done, however (BetMGM’s money line for Golden State is set at +375). The Warriors will need a big effort from Jimmy Butler, who is certainly capable of putting a team on his back during the playoffs, but was strangely passive in Game 4, when he took just nine shots.