Warriors hope Stephen Curry can return Friday

OAKLAND - One of the Warriors’ injured All-Stars could return this Friday. The other three could return soon after.

The Warriors cleared Stephen Curry to practice Wednesday, “with the goal of returning to play later this week,” the team wrote in its press release. The Warriors’ next game will be Friday at Oracle Arena against the Atlanta Hawks. Curry hasn’t played since March 8, when he rolled his right ankle during the first quarter of a 110-107 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

On Wednesday, Curry was a full participant in the Warriors’ 90-minute, non-contact practice. “He was cleared for everything,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “We purposely didn’t scrimmage or have any contact.”

Curry also played a pickup basketball game against Drew and Jonathan Scott, aka “The Property Brothers” - identical twins who host a reality television show about fixing up houses. The media wasn’t invited to watch this game, but HGTV will air parts of it soon.

The media also couldn’t interview Curry - the Warriors didn’t make him available. According to their public relations staff, he will talk today.

Curry shot jumpers by himself in front of reporters for 40 minutes after Wednesday’s practice while wearing big, plastic braces on both ankles. He shot a 3-pointer, sprinted four steps to his left, planted hard, shot another 3, sprinted four steps to his right, planted hard using his injured ankle, shot another 3, then sprinted back to his left. Over and over and over.

“Steph looks great,” Kerr said while Curry completed his routine. “He’s champing at the bit (to play). We’ll see how he responds the next couple of days before we decide whether he plays or not.”

This season, Curry has tweaked his right ankle four times and missed 21 games, including 19 of the Warriors’ past 46. He hadn’t missed more than four games in a season since 2011-2012.

“We know how impactful Steph is,” said Kerr, “what he does for our team, what he does for our franchise. I would prefer not to be reminded of how much he means to us.”

Same goes for the other injured All-Stars. Klay Thompson missed the past four games with a broken right thumb, Kevin Durant missed the past three games with a partial rib cartilage fracture and Draymond Green left the Warriors’ most recent game after suffering a pelvic contusion.

Green did not practice on Wednesday. Thompson practiced, but was not a full participant. After practice, he exercised in the Warriors’ weight room with a wrap around his broken thumb. And Durant practiced fully. He would not have scrimmaged with the team had the Warriors chosen to scrimmage on Wednesday, according to Kerr.

“We’re going to be cautious with all of them,” Kerr said. “I don’t expect KD to play this week. It’s not like a timetable - two to three days, two to three weeks. It’s sort of a feel thing.

“They’re all kind of day to day. Steph more so. Steph is closer to playing than KD and Klay.”

Kerr did not say when he expects Green to return from his pelvic contusion.

The Warriors have lost four of their past six games during this recent string of injuries. They have only 11 games remaining before the playoffs, and their All-Stars could miss a significant portion of those games. But Kerr said he isn’t worried about the team building a rhythm ahead of the postseason.

“We try to get what we need,” Kerr said. “We try to work on days when we need work, rest on days we need rest and pace ourselves so that we’re in the best possible shape going into the playoffs.

“We have been together, this iteration of the team, two full years. Obviously, some of the other guys, five or six years. It’s not a concern of mine that we’re not going to be able to find a rhythm. I’m very comfortable with that.”