The Warriors announced Tuesday that Stephen Curry has been cleared for a return to full basketball related activities following an examination of his right ankle by the team physician.

The team also added that the goal for Curry is for him to “play later this week”.

ESPN’s Chris Haynes and Ramona Shelburne also reported that Curry is targeting Friday against Atlanta as a likely return date.

Curry’s most recent ankle injury came during a home game against the Spurs on March 8th.  He seemed to have stepped on a foot after coming down from a layup on a fast break.

If he does indeed return this Friday he will have missed 6 games with this most recent ankle injury.  Aside from this sprain he also tweaked his right ankle 3 other times this season.  Initially he sprained his right ankle on December 4th in New Orleans which caused him to be sidelined for 11 games.  He would then aggravated the ankle on January 10th during a morning shoot around which caused him to miss another 2 games. Again he tweaked the same ankle a few weeks ago against Atlanta early on in the game when Curry accidentally stepped on Zaza Pachulia’s foot.  Steph would return scorching hot later in the game scoring 11 points in just 122 seconds after getting re-taped before being plucked back out of the game a short while later for precautionary reasons as he reported some stiffness in the ankle.

The Warriors have certainly erred on the side of caution throughout the season when dealing with any team related injuries and have probably been even more cautious in the handling of any Curry related injuries.

With the playoffs less than a month away the team has made it clear that they value health heading into the post-season over anything else.  The team’s current injury list most notably includes Klay Thompson (fractured thumb) and Kevin Durant (rib fracture) however both players in addition to Curry (who will likely return Friday) are expected to be back well before the playoffs begin.