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SANTA CRUZ — Warriors guard Steph Curry successfully participated in his first 5-on-5 scrimmage on Monday with the team’s G League affiliate in Santa Cruz, marking an important step in his eventual return from a broken left hand.
“The real thing is getting bumped around, the physicality of the game, setting screens, fighting over screens, maybe jamming that hand on a fall,” Santa Cruz head coach Kris Weems, who was impressed with Curry’s conditioning, said from Kaiser Permanente Arena.
“You have to have those things to feel like you’re ready to go, so hopefully we gave him that. … Whenever they deem him ready to play, he’ll be ready to go.”
Though Curry had targeted Sunday’s game against the Wizards as his hopeful return date, the Warriors wanted him to participate in a full scrimmage that would more closely resemble the game action that awaits him after a four-month absence. The 31-year-old guard suffered a broken bone in his left hand against Phoenix on Oct. 30.
In the three-quarter scrimmage, Curry, on the blue team coached by Weems, lost by one point to the white team led by forward Jonathon Simmons. It was Simmons who defended Curry on a potential game-winning mid-range jumper. Afterwards, Curry stayed on the court and went through shooting drills for 90 minutes.
Steph Curry getting shots in after practicing in Santa Cruz. pic.twitter.com/xwnU6meP5u
— Wes Goldberg (@wcgoldberg) March 2, 2020
Curry will not travel with the Warriors for Tuesday’s game in Denver, but could return as early as Thursday against the Raptors at Chase Center. That would provide up to 20 games for Curry to test his nerve-damaged left hand and build some chemistry with his new teammates before an extended offseason.
