Warriors look to finish homestand on positive note before hitting the road without Curry

SAN FRANCISCO – Warriors coach Steve Kerr sees a bright side to being without injured superstar Stephen Curry down the stretch.

“The silver lining is that Steph will get a break before the playoffs come and assuming everything goes well, he’ll be ready to roll,” Kerr said.

Golden State has shown resilience through a season that has seen the team’s biggest stars on the court together for only 11 minutes. Just as Klay Thompson made his highly anticipated return to the Warriors in January after missing more than two years with injuries, Draymond Green was sidelined for more than two months with a back injury. Curry being out for at least two weeks is the latest test of the team’s durability.

An MRI revealed Curry suffered a sprained left foot ligament in Wednesday’s loss to the Boston Celtics.

Curry will miss at least seven games down the stretch. The soonest he could be back is when the Warriors host the Utah Jazz April 2.

Kerr is optimistic that Curry will return in time for the playoffs, which begin April 16.

“The silver lining is that Steph will get a break before the playoffs come and assuming everything goes well, he’ll be ready to roll,” he said.

And as for the rest of the team?

“It’ll give us an opportunity to learn how to execute without him which could come in handy during those minutes when he’s off the floor,” he continued. “If we can learn to execute a little bit better now then that’ll serve as well later.”

The Warriors have played six games without Curry this season, going 2-4. In the last three seasons, the Warriors have posted a 17-57 record in games without Curry.

Replacing his All-Star skillset is an impossible feat, so it’ll take a group effort to make up for his absence for the time being.

Two key players in that will be Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins.

Poole has been on a tear lately, scoring 20 or more points in eight consecutive games while shooting 57.9% from the field and 53% from behind the three-point line.

Poole’s plan of attack for the stretch without Curry is simple: “Just go out there, play my game, do what I’ve been doing all year. And then just find ways to put the team in a position to win games,” he said.

As for Wiggins, Kerr would like to see the first-time All-Star be more aggressive now that he’s back after missing two games with illness.

And Poole believes that’ll be no issue for Wiggins.

“He’s just a big part of our team offensively, defensively … and you need a player like that to go a long way and make a run,” Poole said. “So we’re excited to have him back and continue to put in positions to be aggressive, so he can help us win games.”

While the Warriors are optimistic Curry will return in time for the playoffs, the next two weeks without him include a critical stretch of games in terms of seeding. The Warriors are in third place in the Western Conference and are half a game behind the second-place Grizzlies.

The Warriors are preparing to embark on a grueling road trip to the East Coast, where they’ll play five games in seven days. That schedule includes two sets of back-to-backs.

But before that, they’ll host the San Antonio Spurs – losers of three of their last four games – Sunday at 5:30 p.m.

Kerr stressed the importance of using the final game of the homestand to set the momentum for the upcoming road trip.

It’s a “very important game,” Kerr said. “We need to bring it, we’ve emphasized these last two days in practice that we’ve got to return to being one of the best defensive teams in the league. That’s the mindset and that’s where the work is being focused.

“I think we have a chance to go out and play a great game [Sunday], head out on the road and lock in on these last 11-12 games and with the prospect that we get Steph Curry back heading into the playoffs on a high note and feel great about ourselves.”