Warriors guard Stephen Curry missed eight consecutive games with a sprained right ankle, which has been a recurring problem since he was drafted in 2009 out of Davidson. Curry admitted the ankle is still bothersome after games.

“The ankle is feeling good,” said Curry, who has has now played in four straight games heading into Tuesday’s matchup with the Kings. “It doesn’t respond well after games. It takes me a while to get back, get the soreness out of it. But during the games I don’t think about it, it feels good. You can be in shape or what you think is in decent shape to play, but when it gets to the schedule we have and being ready in the fourth quarter that’s a process after missing so much time.

“So, still working on being in shape for the minutes I’m playing. But I’m doing pretty well.”

Curry is averaging 19 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds over his past four games.

The Warriors have talked with New Orleans about a trade centering around Chris Kaman, but sources say a deal is unlikely.

Kaman is in the final season of his contract.

The Hornets seek expiring contracts, draft picks and young talent.

Chris Wright was assigned to the Dakota Wizards of the NBA Development League, the Warriors announced Thursday.

Wright, 23, has appeared in five games this season, averaging one point in 3.2 minutes a contest.  He was originally signed as a free agent on Dec. 12.

Mark Jackson has not been pleased with how the Warriors have played at a slower pace this season.

"I'd like us to push the basketball much more," he said before Monday's game against Memphis. "I think we're trying to be too patient at times. I'm constantly on the guys to push the basketball and not look over at me to call a set.
"It's a process, like everything else."

The Warriors ranked among the league's top two in pace of play in four of the past five seasons and No. 1 in fastbreak points each of the past five. Through 15 games this season, they were in the middle of the pack in both categories - using 94.2 possessions a game (14th) and scoring 12.6 points per game on the break (13th).

Mark Jackson boldly predicted the Warriors would make the playoffs during his first season as head coach and remains optimistic despite a 5-10 record.

“Our thought process has not changed and we’re excited about the rest of the way,” Jackson said. “We’ve lost 10 games and I would say two teams beat us: the Philadelphia 76ers and the Charlotte Bobcats. Every other game we were in control with a real opportunity of closing the door and we did not. So that is extremely encouraging.”

Jackson is still high on the Warriors’ undersized backcourt.

“In my opinion we have the best backcourt in the business, we have an all-star caliber power forward, we have solid role players, and we are a defensive-minded basketball team,” Jackson said. “We are grinding and we’ve been in position to win in eight of our 10 losses and we’ve beaten some of the best in the land. The reality is that we’re very close to being who I am convinced we are.”

Warriors general manager Larry Riley said he's had discussions with Brandon Rush's agent, Mark Bartelstein, about a one- or two-year extension.

"I love it here, and I want to be here," Rush said before Friday's game against Indiana, the team that dealt him to the Warriors during training camp. "Whether we sign an extension or not, it won't make any difference at all in how I play.

"I'm going to keep playing like it's the last year of my contract. I'm going to keep playing as hard as I can."

Rush has averaged 10.6 points and 3.7 rebounds in the past seven games.

Kwame Brown underwent successful surgery on Wednesday to repair his torn right pectoralis major (the large chest muscle that attaches to his right shoulder), the Warriors announced.

The procedure was performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthpaedic Clinic in Los Angeles. Brown will remain in Southern California for a brief time and begin rehabilitation upon his return to the Bay Area sometime next week. He is expected to be out for a minimum of three months.

The Warriors play zone 10.3% of the time, followed by the Bobcats (9.3%) and Raptors (7.5%), according to Synergy Sports, which tracks every NBA play and provides in-depth statistical analysis.

The Hawks face zone defenses the most, on 9.2% of their possessions, followed by the Heat (8.8%), Bobcats (8.3%) and Thunder (7.5%).

It's no coincidence the Heat and Thunder face zones.

"Those might be the two most athletic teams," TNT analyst Steve Kerr said.

Warrios guard Stephen Curry was able to play some 5-on-5 for the first time in 13 days, but he said his ankle felt fatigued near the end of practice. Curry couldn't tell whether his out-of-practice legs were moving slowly or his ankle wasn't strong enough.

Either way, coach Mark Jackson said he doesn't think Curry will play today, and the competitive guard is more than frustrated about possibly missing a seventh consecutive game.

"You try to make a move and you just don't have that force behind it," said Curry, who initially said he wouldn't return until he was completely healthy. "I'm tired of missing games. I said I was going to wait, but I didn't say how long I was going to wait."

Warriors guard Stephen Curry said Saturday that his right ankle has been responding well and he hopes to return to action on Tuesday when the Warriors play at Cleveland.

“Very close,” Curry said, when asked about his status on the Warriors-Bobcats game telecast on CSN Bay Area. “I went out earlier, made some cuts and it responded well. Hopefully in the next couple of days we can keep the intensity up and it looks like Tuesday would be a nice day to come back at Cleveland.”

Curry has sprained the ankle three times this season, the last time coming on Jan. 4 at San Antonio.