It looks like Stephen Curry is eyeing a high stakes return while the Golden State Warriors are fighting to stay in the bottom of the pack. If Steve Kerr’s optimism is to be believed, The Chef ‘s comeback might pit him against former teammate, Kevin Durant. He’s missed over 20 games since January 30 due to lingering knee issues while Steve Kerr has given many tentative dates for his potential comeback. This time though we might have to believe him.

Before the Warriors take on the Spurs and Cavaliers in the next two days, they got a huge adrenaline boost at practice. Stephen Curry was on the floor with his teammates for a 5vs5. As he ramps up his workouts, Kerr was back on Willard & Dibs to explain what that means.

“Today was a good day,” Kerr told the hosts. But ruled out the possibility of Curry joining the team on Wednesday’s game against the Spurs or Thursday’s game against the Cavaliers.

The Dubs’ cautious optimism with Steph still remains as the head coach said, “Watching Steph scrimmage after our practice. We had a very light practice… he got out on the floor and played five on five and looked good. So we’ll take it day by day. We’ve got to see how he’s feeling tomorrow. But all in all a really positive day.”

When the hosts pressed him on targeting Sunday, against the Houston Rockets as a comeback date, Kerr initially said, “I do not have a response to that.” Yet he partially walked back the stance with something hopeful. “I wouldn’t rule it out.”

The Warriors are deferring to Curry in this regard. And he might just want to play against KD after missing chances to play against Jonathan Kuminga and Klay Thompson on the Warriors’ last road trip. Kerr though highlighted the careful mindset the team and Curry are taking it, “But… it’s one good day, a lot has led up to this, but the next few days are important.”

While no one wants to see Curry comeback and aggravate something (we’re still traumatized by how Moses Moody’s comeback went), the team also doesn’t want to throw him right into play-in or playoff setting without getting some conditioning in.

Stephen Curry’s return has been a difficult road for the Warriors

The road to this “good day” was paved with setbacks. Stephen Curry’s runner’s knee was more stubborn than the team’s medical staff anticipated. Sports medicine experts have repeatedly cautioned that rushing his recovery could have dangerous consequences.

While he took his time, Curry attended games with his team, got into shootarounds at Boston’s and Dallas’ arenas. Yet Kerr went from potentially teasing his return against the Mavericks or Hawks, to holding back. Just last week, he admitted they’re “running out of games,” to provide Curry the proper ramp-up he requires before the postseason.

The Warriors (38–36) currently sit in the 10th spot in the Western Conference, clinging to the final Play-In tournament berth while missing gravity that Curry provides. Yet even Draymond Green warned about the risks of rushing Curry just to win in the last stretch.

His first good practice won’t be enough to convince Rick Celebrini to let him back. Curry will have to show he can sustain multiple days of five-on-five without lingering knee soreness. Tuesday’s practice was the first step in that methodical approach. If he can keep it up for the rest of the week, Kevin Durant might have a mini-reunion with the veteran guard.

With only seven games remaining on the schedule, the next few scrimmages will determine if Curry can indeed mark his return with a challenge to Durant and the Rockets.