Stephen Curry reportedly aiming for Friday return vs. Hawks

Stephen Curry reportedly aims to return Friday when the Golden State Warriors host the Atlanta Hawks at Oracle Arena.

Golden State Warriors fans will be happy to hear that Stephen Curry could be returning to the hardwood as soon as Friday.

Per NBA reporters Chris Hayes and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, the former 2-tme MVP is targeting Friday’s home game against the Atlanta Hawks to get back into the rotation.

The 2-time NBA champion has missed the past six games with a “tweaked” ankle, which he suffered in a game against the San Antonio Spurs on March 8. Since that time, the Dubs have gone 2-4, severely lacking their usual offensive firepower.

Considering it was Curry’s fourth ankle injury of the season, the Warriors opted to take the cautious route and rest Curry for more games than was necessary. According to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Monte Poole, Curry actually lobbied to play since being deemed “physically able” since last weekend.

He’s expected to have his ankle re-evaluated on Tuesday, which will precede two scheduled days of practice and a scheduled shoot-around, per Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle.

According to Poole, however, the team is considering cancelling Wednesday’s practice.

Curry is just one of many players to have suffered at the hands of Golden State’s injury bug this past week, the others being the following:

• Quinn Cook (right hand contusion)
• Andre Iguodala (left shoulder contusion, Previously: left knee contusion, left wrist sprain)
• Kevon Looney (jaw contusion)
• Patrick McCaw (non-displaced fracture, left wrist)
• Zaza Pachulia (right shoulder contusion)
• Omri Casspi (sprained right ankle)
• Kevin Durant (incomplete rib cartilage fracture)
• Klay Thompson (fractured right thumb)
• Jordan Bell (right ankle sprain)
• David West (right arm cyst)
• Draymond Green (pelvic contusion, Previously: right shoulder soreness)

The Warriors have only 11 games left in the season, which are set to be spread over the course of two-and-a-half weeks.

While Draymond doesn’t expect to miss any time, it’s entirely possible Klay and KD miss the rest of the regular season. Thompson is scheduled to be re-evaluated on Thursday, while KD’s re-eval will likely occur at the end of the month (or beginning of the next).

Next: Warriors fall to Spurs 89-75 in San Antonio

Looking at how prevalent injuries have become this late in the season, one has to wonder whether shutting down Curry and Draymond is a better idea than risking their long-term health.

It’s not like the Warriors are going to steal the first seed in the West from the Houston Rockets anyway, so again — why risk it?