SAN FRANCISCO – Warriors guard Steph Curry is expected to be available for Sunday’s regular season finale against the Clippers.
“We’re planning on him playing, but he’s got to get through warmups first,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
During Friday’s win in Portland, Curry went back to the locker room with 1:59 remaining in the first quarter after hitting his right thumb on a Blazer defender’s knee on a drive.
Curry returned midway through the second quarter with a wrap around his right hand, and said postgame that X-rays came back negative.
The 37-year-old previously dealt with a thumb injury in January.
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The Warriors can clinch the No. 6 seed and avoid the play-in tournament with a win. If Golden State loses, the team is in danger of falling to the No. 7 seed.
“It doesn’t feel like a game seven to me, because if we lose, we’re still alive,” Kerr said. “It’s obviously very important, and we’ve got to approach it with the attention to detail that’s necessary to go out and play a good game, and then we’ll figure out what’s after that. But we’re not going home either way.”
Curry has also recently been bothered by a pelvis injury sustained in a March game against Toronto, and has worn protective equipment since missing two games on the team’s final long road trip of the season.
Curry has averaged 24.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 6.0 assists in 69 games played this season. Kerr noted what he saw as an increase of allowed physicality when defenders guard Curry.
“One way I’m seeing it manifest itself on tape is that everyone’s just allowed to grab and hold Steph,” Kerr said. “Even when he’s making a back cut I’m seeing people grab his arm.”
