All season long, the Warriors have believed that their health, and not their seeding, would be most important come playoff time.
While that still rings true, head coach Steve Kerr spoke Sunday about how Steph Curry, who currently is rehabbing a sprained ligament in his left foot, could benefit from the Warriors getting a top seed in the first round.
“It’ll be a big week,” Kerr told reporters after the Warriors' 109-90 win over the Kings on Sunday. “We’ll see how it all goes for Steph, but having a week or so, if he’s able to get on the floor and we can put together three or four really good practices as we prepare, it’d be nice to be able to do that and play two home games. We’d have a really good stretch at home, good preparation. We’ve got to ensure that by winning at least another game.”
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Curry suffered the sprained ligament on March 16 against the Boston Celtics. The two-time MVP is expected to start on-court work this week and will be re-evaluated on April 11 after the regular season concludes.
The Warriors currently are the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference but sit just one game ahead of the Dallas Mavericks and two ahead of the Denver Nuggets, so a strong finish to the regular season is needed to secure home-court advantage in Round 1.
The Warriors are 3-6 in the nine games since Curry went down with the sprained foot but have won their last two and are starting to show signs that they have rediscovered who they are as the playoffs near.
After spending the last two seasons watching the postseason at home, Curry is champing at the bit to get back and remind everyone of what this Warriors team can do.
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"My goal is to get back for Game 1 of the playoffs," Curry, who currently is out with a sprained left foot, told Sue Bird and Dianna Taurasi on ESPN's "The Bird and Taurasi Show" on Friday. "Injuries suck. The timing is hopefully on your side in terms of getting back to as close to 100 percent as possible, which is my goal. The boys will hold it down to the end of the regular season.
"Like I said, that championship pedigree, we still got that. So, I just want to get in a playoff series and show who we are and bring our championship DNA back, and be playing under the brightest lights. It's been two years since we played in the playoffs, so we miss it."
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If the Warriors can lock up a top-four seed, it would give Curry a clear runway to ramp up his rehab and return for Game 1 without leaving the Bay.