Warriors-Nuggets ‘competition' heats up before Game 1

SAN FRANCISCO – The NBA Playoffs never begin with Game 1 of the initial series. By the time the ball goes up for tipoff, the pregame competition has gone from a flame to a blaze.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr fired the first volley on Tuesday when he provided one update on the status of Stephen Curry – and then offered another different update in a radio interview a few hours later. Kerr’s story progressed from hoping Curry could scrimmage by Thursday to saying “the plan” was that he would scrimmage.

Kerr entered the interview room Wednesday afternoon wearing a sheepish grin, acknowledging that Curry – previously limited to individual drills – had completed a full practice with his teammates and, barring ill effect, will scrimmage on Thursday.

“He looked like Steph,” Gary Payton II said, not bothering to conceal his smile.

“We did some situational drills, and he took part in everything,” Kerr said. “I talked to him afterward and he said he felt pretty good.”

Boom. The cloud of doubt about Curry’s availability – the leading Warriors storyline – mostly vanished in about 24 hours. It is clear that the two-time MVP is on track to be in the lineup Saturday for Game 1 of the first-round series against the Denver Nuggets.

Meanwhile, the Nuggets fired back with their own bit of drama. All-Star guard Jamal Murray missed the regular season while recovering from ALC surgery. He was, it had been said for weeks, not expected to return in the postseason.

But team president Tim Connelly went on a Denver radio station Wednesday and blew cover, saying he “wouldn’t be surprised at all” if Murray were to return at some point in the series against the Warriors.

“I would lean more toward him being doubtful,” coach Michael Malone said of Murray, who did some limited practice work on Wednesday.

“But I haven’t closed that door.”

Of course not. All doors are open in the days before a playoff series. There are little lies, big disinformation, major manipulation and periodic embellishment. There are secrets kept and secrets exposed.

It’s not as if this series already has built-in intrigue.

Denver, for example, owned the Warriors in the regular season, beating them in three of four games. That normally might tilt the series toward the Nuggets. But Draymond Green missed all four games. And he’s an elite defender who will take plenty of turns against reigning MVP Nikola Jokic.

There is the question of whether the Warriors are prepared to trust exciting but mercurial rookie Jonathan Kuminga, whose minutes from game to game could vary from as low as zero to as high as the mid-20s.

The conventional thinking is that if Curry is available, Kerr will revert to his usual starting lineup: Curry and Klay Thompson and Curry in the backcourt, Andrew Wiggins and Green at forward, Kevon Looney at center. That would put Jordan Poole back into the role of Sixth Man.

But Draymond cracked open, yes, another door of possibility.

“I’m not sure he goes back to the second unit,” Green said. “I think that’s still to be decided, and that’s not an easy decision to make.

It ain’t my decision whether he’s going back to the second unit or not, but Coach Kerr is a very smart coach and a very smart man.”

Kerr on Wednesday concluded his comment on Poole by saying this: “I’m excited to see him play.”

I asked Kerr on Wednesday if this was going to be a series where he was willing to announce his starting lineups or keep them under wraps. His reply was, given the mood of the week, utterly predictable.

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“Unwilling,” he said, breaking into laughter. “Leave me alone.”

There remain two full days for more buildup, more promotion, more red herrings and more flippant lines that spark imaginations. That’s how the NBA playoffs roll, and it’s how they should roll.

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