OAKLAND – The sight of Steph Curry shooting jumpers on his usual practice court Wednesday morning was very much welcome to the Warriors, particularly after the way they struggled on offense without him Tuesday night.
Residual soreness after Curry twisted his left ankle last Saturday at Oklahoma City forced the reigning MVP – and NBA Finals MVP Andre Iguodala – to watch from the bench as the Warriors scuffled to a 109-105 overtime win over the Atlanta Hawks.
The hope is that at least Curry will be able to return Thursday, when the Warriors play host to the Thunder in a rematch of the epic battle last Saturday.
“We’ll just keep them as questionable for tomorrow,” coach Steve Kerr said, noting Curry working up a sweat in the background. “(Curry is) further along than Andre. So we’ll see how they feel tomorrow.”
Both Curry and Iguodala are listed as questionable for Thursday night.
Neither practiced Wednesday, nor did their teammates. With the team already coming off a long road trip, and now consecutive overtime games, Kerr basically ran a brief open gym. Those who played big minutes Tuesday were in the training room.
The Warriors won Tuesday despite their poorest shooting home game this season: 41-of-104, 39.4 percent. Klay Thompson, trying to carry an additional scoring burden in the absence of Curry, was 8-of-27. Guards and wings off the bench were 5-of-18.
That won’t cut it against OKC, who the Warriors took down in OT at Chesapeake Energy Arena, and Kerr knows it.
“We know who they are,” he said of the Thunder. “They’re a great team. Talented. They’re big and they play hard.
“We expect another tight game, another good game. We don’t worry too much about them. We worry about us and focus on everything that we can do and hopefully put together a good game.”
