Curry hopes to beat two-week timeline, still can't shoot

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OAKLAND – The original projection for Stephen Curry’s absence was two weeks. Four days after he was diagnosed with a sprained MCL in his right knee, the reigning MVP plans to do all he can to return ahead of schedule.

“I always have an optimistic view, no matter what it is,” he said Friday. “I hope to get back sooner.”

Curry has spent the week getting treatment at least three times a day. The Warriors point guard and leader did some light bicycle work for the first time on Thursday.

He can only watch as his teammates carry on through the playoffs, for now, without him. Curry is not yet able to resume shooting drills.

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“Close, but I don’t know if that means if it will take another day or another three or four days,” he said. “I couldn’t do it right now, though.”

Curry sustained the injury when he slipped on a wet spot on the Toyota Center floor last Sunday in the Game 4 victory over the Rockets in Houston. His right knee bent awkwardly as he fell to the floor.

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General manager Bob Myers projected, based on typical Grade I MCL sprains, a minimum two-week absence.

Curry has since studied recovery periods for players who have incurred a similar injury, noting they’ve been out for as little as six days or as long as three weeks. He feels there has been progress but understands he’s not close to returning.

“I haven’t talked to the doctors and the athletic training staff and all the experts,” he said. “But that two-week timeline was, as Bob said, an educated guess on cases that other situations where guys have hurt the same thing I did and the kind of recovery time they had.

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“Everybody heals differently, so whether it’s before two weeks or after two weeks or right at two weeks, the plan is to stay the same. Every day I’m getting treatment. Every day I’m trying to do what I need to do to get back on the floor.”

For now, then, it’s all about healing as rapidly as possible. Curry is limited in cardio work, and can’t begin work on his rhythm and timing – all of which he’ll have to do.

“It’s playoff basketball,” he said. “When you miss an extended period of time, it’s very hard to just jump back out there, no matter how healthy you are.”

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