Report: Steph Curry has yet to push hamstring to ‘full speed’ as he attempts to return in Timberwolves series

Golden State Warriors star guard Stephen Curry has sat out the last two games of the team’s second-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves with a hamstring injury, and sans maybe the greatest shooter in the history of the NBA in the lineup, the Warriors have lost both contests.

Most recently, Golden State lost Saturday’s Game 3 of the best-of-seven series at home by five points despite the fact that forward Jimmy Butler lived up to his “Playoff Jimmy” nickname with a 33-point performance.

Curry is allegedly working to make a return to the floor later in this series, but according to The Athletic’s Anthony Slater, the four-time NBA champion has yet to push his hamstring to “full speed.”

“Curry didn’t push it to full speed, according to a team source,” Slater wrote. “He’s yet to burst or cut or test that left hamstring in a manner that’ll deliver him and Rick Celebrini — the team’s lead medical decision maker — the true information they’ll need on whether the hamstring is healed enough to return deeper in this series. But he went through a medium-speed shooting routine and rode the stationary bike. This was a notable advancement for Curry in his race against time.”

The 37-year-old went down with a hamstring injury in Game 1 against the Timberwolves and didn’t return to the game. He got off to a strong start to the contest before he left the game with the injury, as he scored 13 points in less than 13 minutes of playing time and knocked down three 3-pointers.

The Warriors took home-court advantage from the Timberwolves in the series with their Game 1 victory, but Minnesota snatched it right back following its impressive road win on Saturday.

Points have been hard to come by for the Warriors without Curry in the fold, as Golden State mustered just 93 points in Game 2 and 97 points in Game 3.

Maybe Curry will be feeling up to playing once again before the Warriors dig themselves in a series hole that they won’t be able to get out of.

A loss for Golden State in Game 4 would put it in a 3-1 deficit, and only 13 teams in NBA playoff history have recovered from such a deficit. The Denver Nuggets are the last team to mount such a comeback, as they beat the Los Angeles Clippers in seven games in the second round of the 2020 NBA Playoffs.

The pivotal Game 4 for Golden State will take place on Monday night at Chase Center.