SAN FRANCISCO -- The Golden State Warriors will be without star guard Stephen Curry when they exit the All-Star break on Thursday night against the Boston Celtics and the length of his ongoing absence is unclear.
In more fortunate news for the Warriors, high-profile addition Kristaps Porzingis is expected to make his team debut against the Celtics. Porzingis is officially listed as questionable but told reporters he was "ready to go."
Prior to the break, Warriors coach Steve Kerr expressed optimism that the swelling and pain in Curry's right knee would calm and he'd perhaps get clearance for Thursday night. But Curry returned to the facility Wednesday night and told the training staff his "runner's knee" didn't feel quite ready to participate in a live scrimmage.
"Just wasn't where he needed to be," Kerr said. "It's unfortunate. We'll have an update tomorrow after he goes through his time with the training staff."
Kerr said it's possible Curry will get another MRI after consulting with Rick Celebrini, the team's lead medical decision-maker. Celebrini is in Milan watching his son Macklin play for Team Canada in Olympic hockey.
Curry missed the last five games before the All-Star break after persistent pain and swelling forced the team to shut him down.
"We've got to be certain," Kerr said. "He's got to be certain. ... It is a little nebulous, but that's the nature of the injury."
Curry told ESPN on Feb. 5 that his right knee was "trending in the right direction" but he'd remain cautious before returning.
"You have to try to get rid of all the inflammation and pain," Curry said. "It's something we still have to monitor and injury-manage, but it's something where, if I come back too early, it could flare up."
Porzingis arrived from Atlanta at the trade deadline in a deal that sent Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield to the Hawks. He was limited to 17 games this season because of both illness and Achilles tendinitis, but he worked with the Warriors' training staff over the break and scrimmaged with the team Wednesday night.
Kerr said the plan is to play Porzingis in short bursts and relatively limited minutes early in his tenure. It is anticipated that Porzingis will come off the bench against the Celtics, his former team, next to Al Horford, his new teammate who was also his former teammate in Boston.
"Weird," Porzingis said of facing the Celtics. "Who would believe this? But this is how it works. Obviously we expected Boston to have some changes with the money stuff, but it's going to be weird."
Kerr has signaled a plan to feature Porzingis on the offensive end. The team spent the past two days working on how to properly space around Porzingis' post-ups. Porzingis said he "loves" the simplicity of the offense and enjoyed playing next to Draymond Green in Wednesday's scrimmage.
"I love Draymond, man," Porzingis said. "I can see how important he is to this group."
The Warriors are 29-26 and eighth in the Western Conference standings.