Warriors point guard Stephen Curry did not practice Tuesday because of his sprained right ankle and has been listed as day to day. Results of an MRI exam Tuesday confirmed the original diagnosis of a sprain, according a Warriors news release.
Curry, who could play in Wednesday night’s home game against the New York Knicks, aggravated the surgically repaired ankle midway through the fourth quarter of Monday night’s 99-91 victory over the Chicago Bulls. He did not return to the game, but X-rays taken after the game were negative, the team announced.
If Curry sits out Wednesday’s game, he would have four days of rest and treatment since Golden State doesn’t play again until Saturday against visiting Philadelphia.
Curry sprained his right ankle four times last season, forcing him to miss eight games. He had surgery in May in Charlotte, N.C., to repair two torn ligaments.
After four months of rehab, he was cleared for full activity in September. But he sprained the ankle again Dec. 20 in the exhibition finale at Sacramento.
Jeremy Lin is returning to Oracle Arena on Wednesday, but it will be as a Knick.
The former Warrior was claimed off waivers by New York on Tuesday and confirmed he will be on the visiting sideline for the first time Wednesday. The Palo Alto native had something of a cult following since signing with the Warriors in October 2010.
The second-year guard out of Harvard said his return to Oracle will be emotional.
“I’m so thankful for the Warriors fans, I have no way I can even express it,” Lin said.
December has been a long, difficult month for Lin. The second-year guard was pulled from the first day of Warriors training camp Dec. 9 and told he was being waived. Golden State did it to create salary cap space for an offer to Los Angeles Clippers restricted free-agent center DeAndre Jordan.
The Warriors’ offer was matched by the Clippers, meaning Golden State gave up Lin for nothing. But he said he remains in good spirits and is taking a positive approach.
“That’s what I’m understanding through all this — it’s a business,” Lin said in a phone interview. “It was a calculated business decision they made to benefit the team. I have no hard feelings.”
After being waived by the Warriors, Lin was picked up by Houston. But on Christmas Day, the Rockets waived Lin, making him available for the Knicks to grab.
So Tuesday night, Lin joined his third team in less than three weeks.
“God is teaching me to control what I can control and be thankful for what I have,” Lin said. “Everything I expected coming into the season has been flipped upside down.”
Golden State was not able to claim Lin off waivers per league rules. A team source did say the Warriors would have signed Lin if he had cleared waivers. But the Knicks are in need of a guard after Iman Shumpert sprained his right knee Christmas Day.
“I’m thankful that people want me,” Lin said. “I understand my position: I’m competing for a backup spot, and people see me as the 12th to 15th guy on the roster. It’s a numbers game.”
According to multiple team sources, the Warriors have agreed to a one-year deal with free-agent center Kyrylo Fesenko, who spent the past four seasons with the Utah Jazz.
Fesenko — a 25-year-old, 7-foot-1, 288-pound Ukrainian — will consume the rest of the Warriors’ salary-cap space, which is just over $1 million. He was expected to arrive Tuesday night in Oakland, and his physical is scheduled for Wednesday. He will be on the bench for the game against the Knicks but isn’t expected to play.
The signing bolsters Golden State’s front line, adding a bruising presence. Fesenko played in 53 games for the Jazz last season, averaging two points and two rebounds in 8.6 minutes.
Golden State now has the maximum 15 players on its roster. Five of those players — Fesenko, Kwame Brown, Andris Biedrins, Ekpe Udoh and rookie Jeremy Tyler — are at least 6-10.
Golden State announced that the retirement of Chris Mullin’s No. 17 jersey has been rescheduled to March 19 when the Warriors host Minnesota. Mullin’s jersey was originally scheduled to be retired on Jan. 20 when the Warriors host Indiana, the only other team Mullin played for during his 16-year NBA career.
The Warriors sold out their first two home games, but as of Tuesday, tickets remained for Wednesday’s game against the Knicks. For more information, go to
www.warriors.com
.