Warriors' Steph Curry remains sidelined with no timetable set for… — and more

Stephen Curry was an onlooker Wednesday at practice for the Golden State Warriors – as he'll be again Thursday when they host the Boston Celtics at Chase Center.

Curry will miss his sixth consecutive game with right kneecap soreness and underwent evaluation by Golden State's training staff, per head coach Steve Kerr. The Warriors were hopeful Curry would scrimmage Wednesday in advance of a return to play, but the 12-time All-Star knew he "wasn't quite feeling right," according to Kerr.

"He knew it wasn't the right thing to go back into a full practice," Kerr said, adding that Curry might also undergo another MRI. "It is a little nebulous but that's the nature of the injury … It's a little tricky and we're going to keep plugging away with it and Steph will take the right steps. Our training staff will continue to work with him and we'll see where it goes."

There isn't a timetable for his return. 

The kneecap soreness – known as runner's knee – emerged Jan. 24 for Curry during a workout in Minneapolis in lieu of a postponed matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves. He played through it the ensuing afternoon and scored 26 in a blowout victory and sat out the Monday rematch, a blowout loss. Curry then played Jan. 26, scoring 27 in a decisive win over the Utah Jazz before aggravating the soreness Jan. 30 against the Detroit Pistons. 

The Warriors are 6-10 without Curry, 37, in his 17th season logging 27.2 points (46.8% shooting, 39.1% 3-point shooting), 3.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 39 games. Set to miss his 17th game as the fulcrum of Golden State's organization and offense, Curry won't be eligible for postseason honors should he miss another game. 

The Warriors next play Sunday against the Denver Nuggets at Chase Center.

Speaking to the Chronicle earlier this month, orthopedic surgeon and UCSF sports medicine specialist Dr. Nirav Pandya characterized runner's knee as "a grinding grading sensation, and it's really hard because it will hurt you when you're sitting down, when you're running because you're stressing that kneecap all the time. So it's kind of this annoying, aching feeling – a lot different than when people have that sharp pain that really, really kind of jars you. This is more … like that nuisance, annoyance that makes it really hard to do those things on the court."

Full mobility and an absence of stiffness are keys to returning, Pandya said, and rest is the key to recovery. Overuse is the "number one reason" runner's knee emerges in athletes, Pandya added – also noting Curry's increased workload after Jimmy Butler's season-ending torn right ACL. 

"It obviously kind of tracks that he's probably doing more on the court and you just need to decrease that load," Pandya said, affirming runner's knee could linger for Curry. "The good thing with this in general is it's not something that suddenly creeps up out of nowhere. It's not like he's feeling great and then within a minute it's like ‘Oh, geez, it's aggravated again.' … It's something that's easy to manage. The tough thing is just making sure on the front end when it flares up, not having someone come back too soon."

Golden State is 29-26 and in eighth place in the Western Conference with a fate – be it as a top-six seed, play-in tournament advancer or lottery team – connected to Curry's health with 27 games to play. With Curry on the court, its offense (120.4 points per 100 possessions) would rate as the second-most efficient in the NBA but when he sits, its offense (111.5) stumbles to 26th.

A top-six seed is still the goal, according to Kerr, though not an expectation: "There's basically a third of the season left. Let's see if we can make that happen."

Kristaps Porzingis (left Achilles tendon management) could provide some short-term relief with Curry out, having practiced Wednesday with a questionable tag for Thursday's matchup with his former team. He said after practice he's "feeling excellent" but stopped short of affirming he'll debut. If and when he returns to play, it'll be with a minutes restriction – of 15 or so - per Kerr.

Porzingis has career averages of 19.6 points (46.1% shooting, 36.6% 3-point shooting), 7.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists as a 7-foot-2 inch sharpshooting center who can punish mismatches with skill and size.

"I feel good on the court," said Porzingis, limited this year to 17 games with Achilles soreness and an energy-zapping condition known as POTS. "I want to get out there and feel good and start building on top of this and finish the year really strong. … I'm looking forward now that I'm finally feeling good to just take it one step at a time. Build up with each game. More minutes, more this, more feeling better and better and better and see where I end up."

Additionally, Seth Curry (sciatica) was re-evaluated recently and continues to make "good progress," the Warriors announced. He'll begin on-court workouts this week and will be re-valuated in two weeks.

This article originally published at Warriors' Steph Curry remains sidelined with no timetable set for his return.

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