Warriors: Stephen Curry Addresses Injury Setback Talks, Championship Chances

Stephen Curry denied claims he suffered a setback in his recovery from a grade 2 MCL sprain to his left knee and is hoping to return on schedule, which is likely to be for the second round of the playoffs.

The Golden State Warriors point guard suffered the injury on March 23, it was his first game back from an ankle injury that kept him out for six games and coach Steve Kerr is certain he will not return for the first round of the playoffs which begins on April 14.

Curry will be re-evaluated over the weekend and recently revealed the recovery process was in the rehab stage. The Warriors are looking to win their third NBA title in four years and will need their star point guard to be fit and in form.

“I haven’t had any setbacks,” Curry said when he joined the Warriors’ broadcast team during their 117-100 win over the Phoenix Suns on Sunday, as quoted by NBA.com. “So that’s the positive, every day has been something good, advancing the rehab process. I’m looking forward to making more progress as we get towards the playoffs.”

"It’s been an interesting two weeks so far,” Curry said during the interview. “Just trying to get some rhythm, some strength back, some flexibility, range of motion, all that type of stuff."

Warriors are looking to make their 4th straight finals and are among the favorites to make the latter stages of the competition but the Western Conference has a few other teams that can upstage them. The Houston Rockets, who clinched the number one spot in the west, along with other teams — Utah Jazz, the New Orleans Pelicans, Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder.

The two-time MVP, who will be key to the 2017 NBA champions having a shot at another title, is confident they can challenge the best for a place in the finals as they know what it takes to get to the summit clash.

“At the end of the day, we know what it takes,” Curry added. “We’re a championship team, a championship pedigree.”

The Warriors play their final regular season game against the Jazz on Tuesday night before they begin preparations for the playoffs starting on April 14. Curry is certain to miss the upcoming games and recent reports suggest Andre Iguodala will also miss the game due to a knee injury.

Meanwhile, coach Kerr admitted he "chose my words poorly" when he criticized his team after their recent loss to the Indiana Pacers. He seemed to suggest the players did not care, but clarified he was talking about the poor defense rather than questioning the character of the players.

“My main message is we've got to defend," Kerr said before the Warriors' 117-100 win over the Suns, as quoted on ESPN. "We've got to get back to being a top-five defensive team. I probably chose my words poorly in Indianapolis.”

“When I said they didn't care, that didn't mean that they didn't 'care.' What that meant to me was they didn't box out. They didn't get in the passing lanes. They didn't compete at a high level. But when you say someone doesn't care, that can be interpreted as maybe you're questioning their character.”

"I think everybody knows how I feel about our guys. They're an amazing group, and they're a championship group. So I probably chose my words poorly. But what I'm trying to remind my guys of is in order to win in the playoffs, you better be defending at a high level,” he added.