Stephen Curry is ready to take the final steps in his return from a knee injury. The Golden State Warriors’ leader has missed games since January 30 and is targeting Sunday’s game against the Houston Rockets at the Chase Center for his comeback. Head coach Steve Kerr has provided a positive update that Dub Nation has been waiting to hear.

For the second time in three days, Stephen Curry played in a 5-on-5 scrimmage. The 2x MVP has already missed his 27th consecutive game, but the efforts on Thursday clearly prove that the Baby Face Assassin is in no mood to miss more games.

“He looked good,” head coach Steve Kerr said of the scrimmage. “He looks like Steph Curry. We’ll see how he recovers tomorrow. So, got a couple days to recover, and [director of sports medicine and performance Rick Celebrini] and Steph will make a decision on that tomorrow, probably.”

Warriors players will have Friday off before meeting again for practice Saturday at Chase Center.

“We’ll see how it goes the next couple of days, but we’re obviously dying to get him back,” Kerr added.

This is a significant update, as Stephen Curry took purposeful efforts to show the fans that he wants to return. After the scrimmaging on Tuesday, he did participate in a shoot-around in front of 18,064 spectators inside the Chase Center. Those who saw him erupted in joy and expressed hope for the Warriors’ superstar’s return.

“He (Steph) said yesterday he wanted to shoot on the court,” the 60-year-old said after the loss to the Spurs. “I think it’s purposeful instead of shooting downstairs (on the practice court).”

Previously, Curry was supposed to return after the All-Star break. But the 4x NBA champion reported more swelling in his knee, further delaying his rehabilitation. Then, after participating in pregame shooting drills on March 18 in Boston, expectations for his return were high again. But Steph did not participate in any scrimmage until Tuesday.

The head coach also reiterated that the Warriors will need to give Curry several games to “ramp up” his minutes ahead of an inevitable play-in tournament game in under two weeks.

Why Stephen Curry’s Friday update is important

Previously, Kerr admitted they’re “running out of games” to provide Curry the proper minutes before the postseason. He even hinted that shutting down Steph was an option if the medical advice said so. Fortunately, the 38-year-old is making the right progress. But ClutchPoints‘ Brett Siegel put extra emphasis on Curry’s availability for the rest of the season.

“That is the date, make or break, for Stephen Curry to return. He will either play against the Rockets, or they’ll say that he won’t be available because he has some kind of setback, or he’s still experiencing knee pain, and they will rule him out for the season at that point,” he said.

After Sunday, the Warriors have just 4 regular-season games remaining. The two games in between are back-to-back, giving no additional time for the Warriors’ superstar to recover.

So it’s not surprising that Kerr would be on board with a shutdown if any setback happens. But it’s also true that the Dub Nation needs him. They have a 9-17 record when Curry was on the sidelines. Obviously, the production and offensive game took a massive hit. The Warriors rank 27th in points per game since January 30, shooting just 34.1% from beyond the arc. So, Kerr knows they need him, but won’t jeopardize it for an early return.