Curry Cleared for Warriors' Opener vs. Lakers — SkimNews
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- Stephen Curry rolled his right ankle on a dribble move from the right wing during Sunday's open scrimmage, stopped action, banged the basketball on the floor, and limped to the locker room in front of concerned teammates and fans — he did not return to the scrimmage.
- Curry was a full participant in Monday's practice, and coach Steve Kerr said Curry reassured him he was "fine" soon after leaving the floor in clear discomfort; medical staff cleared him after his ankle responded well overnight, with another practice scheduled Tuesday before the opener.
- Curry, who turns 39 in March, spent the summer reconfiguring his routine to manage a persistent right knee problem that forced him to miss 27 games last season, and Kerr said the Warriors will have him practice less to ease his workload going forward.
- Starting wings Moses Moody and Jimmy Butler III are both rehabbing serious knee injuries and are not expected back until midseason, further thinning Golden State's perimeter depth.
- Starting center Kristaps Porzingis remains out indefinitely with a private health issue and will not travel to Los Angeles, while starting guard Brandin Podziemski missed Monday's practice with lower back tightness and is questionable for the opener.
- Steve Kerr indicated the Warriors were already careful with Curry's preseason minutes, meaning Wednesday's opener doubles as the first test of Golden State's newly calibrated workload plan for its aging franchise star.
Why it matters: Curry turns 39 in March and already missed 27 games last season with a chronic knee issue, so even a rolled ankle raises the stakes for a Warriors team entering Wednesday's opener without Moody, Butler, or Porzingis. His availability game-to-game — and how aggressively Golden State manages his minutes — is the single variable that will define their ceiling this season.
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