OAKLAND -- The Warriors are playing the postseason game as it should be played, and we’re not talking about what happens when the ball goes up for tipoff.
We’re talking about the mystery surrounding Stephen Curry’s return to the lineup.
As of Saturday afternoon, seven hours before Game 1 of the playoff series against New Orleans, Curry was listed as questionable, a status unchanged from that which was posted on Friday and, before that, on Thursday.
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Meanwhile, during that three-day span, Curry completed every practice session, shed his knee brace for a sleeve and did all the stopping and starting and cutting and jumping he would have done if his name is miles away from the team’s injury report.
Still, he is listed as questionable with the sprained left medial collateral ligament (MCL) sustained March 23.
Curry’s status could change in the hours before the scheduled 7:40 tipoff at Oracle Arena. The updated official injury report could reveal that he has been downgraded to “out” or upgraded to “probable” or even “available.” The other designation, “doubtful,” is not a rational option at this stage.
All this uncertainty forces Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry, a good friend of Warriors coach Steve Kerr and the first man he added to his staff when hired in May 2014, to put more options on his game-planning plate.
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Gentry must have a plan for the Warriors with Curry, which the New Orleans coach says he does. It’s absolutely the right play.
But Gentry also has to plan for the Warriors without Curry, just in case.
No matter which way Gentry goes, though, there isn’t much video for him to study. Curry did not play in the first round the Spurs, nor did he play when the Warriors and Pelicans met on April 7, a 126-120 New Orleans victory.
As for the other three times the Warriors played the Pelicans, they’re not of much use either. New Orleans with 3-point artist Nikola Mirotic and without low-post beast DeMarcus Cousins is a completely different team, with a significantly contrasting approach.
It is safe to assume that when Kerr pulled out of the team’s practice facility around 12:20 Saturday afternoon, he knew who would be in his starting lineup. He knew whether Curry would be in or out, and whether he would come off the bench, as he did in 2016 against the Trail Blazers in Portland.
Kerr and his staff, with input from physical performance specialist Chelsea Lane, have passed the yellow-light stage with Curry. It’s either red, and he’s not playing, or green, and he will play.
They’ll know well before 7:40, and they likely knew before 11 a.m.
Everybody else, most pointedly the Pelicans and Gentry, Kerr’s good buddy, is left to wonder. It’s how the game is played when the stakes are high.
Imagine the noise inside Oracle Arena if the crowd sees Curry introduced with the starting lineup or rising off the bench to check in at the scorer’s table. Visualize the effect it might have on the Warriors and the Pelicans.
And know that, whether it’s Game 1 or Game 2, the Warriors will have gamed it as best they could.