Warriors' Stephen Curry Discusses Minutes Restriction After Hand Injury Recovery

Golden State Warriors superstar guard Stephen Curry said he'll be on a minutes restriction when he returns to the Dubs' lineup for Thursday night's game against the Toronto Raptors. 

Curry, who's been sidelined since late October with a broken hand, told reporters he'll play "somewhere between 24 to 28 minutes tonight" with a focus on "finishing quarters, finishing the game."

He added the initial plan is to appear in all of the Warriors' remaining 20 regular-season games.

Curry also discussed the health of his hand and the limited risk associated with returning to action:

Golden State faced questions about having Curry play again amid a lost season. It owns a 14-48 record, the worst mark in the NBA, and will soon be eliminated from playoff contention.

Head coach Steve Kerr disputed the idea of sitting the two-time NBA MVP for the remainder of the campaign last month:

"He's perfectly healthy. He's in the prime of his career. If the point is because he might get hurt, then what's the point of ever playing anything? People can get hurt any day. I guess the argument would be, 'Well, we're not going to the playoffs.' So are we not trying to entertain our fans? We're selling tickets to all these people who love basketball, and Steph Curry is one of the most amazing, graceful, exciting basketball players on earth. And if he were healthy and we didn't present him to our fans and say, 'Here you go. Here's your gift for staying with us for this whole season,' what would that say about us? That we don't care about our fans?

"So to me it's never been a question. As soon as he's ready, he's coming back. Our fans deserve it. We need it as a team to springboard into next year, and it's the right thing to do."

Curry averaged 20.3 points, 6.5 assists and 5.0 rebounds in four appearances before the hand injury.

Along with the six-time All-Star, the Warriors are also getting close to getting power forward Draymond Green back from a knee injury.

Curry, Green and Andrew Wiggins should make Golden State far more competitive during the final quarter of the regular season.

While that'll be a welcome sight for Dubs fans who've become accustomed to championship-level basketball in recent years, it could ultimately cost the franchise the best odds in the 2020 NBA draft lottery.