Warriors vs. Pelicans: Stephen Curry Will Start Game 3, Coach Kerr Confirms

Stephen Curry is set to make his first start in over a month when the Golden State Warriors take on the New Orleans Pelicans in Game 3 of the Western Conference semi-finals on Friday.

The Warriors point guard was sidelined for almost six weeks with a grade two MCL sprain to his left knee, but made his return when he came off the bench during the reigning NBA champions’ 121-116 win over the Pelicans in Game 2.

Curry played 27 minutes and was the second highest points scorer with 28 on the board just one fewer than top scorer Kevin Durant, who played 41 minutes. The two-time MVP did not take time to find his groove and coach Steve Kerr confirmed after the game that his minute restriction was not due to his knee injury, but his conditioning.

The 30-year-old’s last outing on court prior to the playoff game on Tuesday was in the regular season against the Atlanta Hawks on March 23. The coach was keen to ease him into action rather than push him and give cause for a potential setback.

“We knew we wanted to play him for 25 minutes or so, not so much based on his knee, but based on his conditioning,” Kerr said on Tuesday after the win over the Pelicans. “We played really well in Game 1 so we decided to stick with Nick [Young] in the starting lineup and just play Steph in Quinn Cook’s minutes.”

“I would say it played out as expected. I knew I would play him more than what we planned. We planned on 24 [minutes] and he got to 27,” he added.

The Warriors star was keen to play in Game 1 and the coach confirmed that Curry did plead his case, but was not risked before he was given complete clearance by the medical staff. The point guard was back on song despite being out of action for almost six weeks and Kerr confirmed he will be back in the starting lineup on Friday, during his radio appearance with 95.7 The Game.

“Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, he’ll start Game 3” Kerr told the San Francisco-based station during his appearance on "The Damon Bruce Show". “You don’t keep a guy like that on the bench for long.”

Curry is expected to replace either Young or Andre Iguodala, who played as the starting guard in the first two games alongside Klay Thomspon, when he returns to the lineup on Friday. Kerr also revealed during the interview that coming off the bench in Game 2 was the two-time MVP’s idea as he did not want to disrupt the starting lineup that had performed so well in Game 1.

The Warriors take on the Pelicans in Game 3 on Sunday at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. It will be their first away game in the best of seven series which they lead 2-0. The match tips off at 8 p.m. EDT with live TV coverage on ESPN.