SAN FRANCISCO _ Stephen Curry participated in his first full-contact practice Saturday since suffering a broken left hand in late October.
After being cleared for contact in the morning, Curry will be involved in more full practices and scrimmages in the coming weeks before his expected return for the Warriors' game against the Wizards on March 1 at Chase Center.
"He got an ovation today when I told the group he was going to scrimmage with us," head coach Steve Kerr said. "Everyone was excited. It'll be good for our young guys to feel what it's like to play with him, and vise-versa."
Over the last four months, Curry, 31, has undergone two surgeries and an arduous rehab process to recover from a broken bone in his left hand he suffered when Suns center Aron Baynes landed on him during Golden State's Oct. 30 loss to Phoenix.
For Curry, who has had multiple ankle surgeries in his career, this has been a new process as he has had to regain strength in his off shooting hand. On Saturday, Curry said he is still dealing with lingering nerve damage that could affect how he plays.
"I'm getting used to what the new normal is," Curry said a few days after participating in non-contact drills. "It definitely feels different than the right but you can try to get it to the point where when you're actually playing basketball, you don't think about it.
"Whether it feels all the way the same or not, it really doesn't matter as long as I'm not worried about the things I'm trying to do."
If Curry returns as expected, he will have 22 games to play alongside several new teammates, including Andrew Wiggins, who the team acquired in a trade-deadline deal for D'Angelo Russell and two others.
"A big part of the final third of the season is everyone playing together, acclimating together," Kerr said. "The trade for Andrew, the young guys, Steph coming back, these games matter."
