NEW ORLEANS — Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry returned Friday night from a two-game absence due to a pelvic contusion and said that while he will “feel it for a while,” he avoided any type of break in the bone.
Curry had 23 points and six assists to help the Warriors snap a two-game losing streak with a 111-95 win over the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center.
His return came just over a week after he took a scary spill in the second half of a win over Toronto last Thursday. Fortunately for the Warriors, Curry did not suffer a hairline fracture in his tailbone like he did when he fell hard on stairs that were courtside during a game against Houston in the 2020-21 season. That injury, which cost him five games, happened during the season when fans were not seated down low by the court due to COVID.
“It just reminded me of ’21 when I fell into the stairs in Houston,” Curry said. “I think that [this time it didn’t] break anything or have any bone damage, was mostly just a deep serious contusion that I’ll feel it for a while. But I can play and I can’t make it worse as long as I don’t land on it again.”
Curry shot 7-for-21 overall against the Pelicans, including 5-of-16 from behind the arc. He said his timing and endurance — he logged 34 minutes — were a challenge.
But a week off at this point of the season is extremely beneficial.
“I thought he looked great,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “He was moving really well. Took care of the ball. I thought Steph played an excellent game. He probably missed his last five or six 3’s, so the numbers don’t look great, but he looked like himself. And I think the week off did him a lot of good.”
The Warriors rested Curry against Milwaukee on March 18 after Kerr was adamant that his star was exhausted and needed a night off. He played just over a half in the next game against Toronto before suffering the pelvic contusion.
“I felt good before it,” Curry said of how rested he is after the injury. “I mean I know there’s all that talk with the volume or the load that I’ve been through, but physically I felt well and felt good and had some juice every night. Mentally I was away for the team for three days [right after the injury] so that was just kind of weird but could fill the cup up a little bit.
“Then thought I was going to play in Miami and kind of went through the routine but wasn’t able to go. So it was another two days to kind of get my mind right. I think it should be a good run all the way to our last game. You got nine games left, so we got to win as many we can.”
Source: espn.com