Curry sitting more since return from injury

Warriors coach Keith Smart said before Monday's game that he could foresee situations in which he would go long stints without point guard Stephen Curry on the floor because of the height disadvantage he and backcourt mate Monta Ellis create.

Smart's vision didn't necessarily include the game against New Jersey an hour later, but that's the way it unfolded.

Curry couldn't stay in front of firecracker point guard Devin Harris and picked up two early fouls in each half. Curry was forced to the bench for 12 1/2-minute spans in each situation.

Because Smart also opted to go without Curry in the final minutes of Friday's victory over the Clippers, the point guard was asked if his coach's confidence in him was wavering.

"I'm not worried about that, at all," said Curry, who had 13 points on 4-for-10 shooting and two of the team's season-low six turnovers. "It's a two-game stretch. I'm sure you can find any kind of story in a two-game stretch. I don't feel like there is anything different about his approach to the game.

"He felt like Reggie (Williams) could guard Eric Gordon better Friday, and I got into foul trouble Monday. That's it."

But that's not it.

Curry is averaging 14.9 points on 40.4 percent shooting since returning Dec. 25 from a six-game layoff because of a right ankle sprain. (That's down from 20.1 points per game on 48.9 percent shooting before his injury.) He has shown to be a liability on defense - though he says his ankle is not the problem - and Smart increasingly has shown the willingness to sit him.

"Guys are going to have to buy into the fact that, at certain times of a game and at certain points of a season, one of the guards won't be on the floor because of a matchup situation," Smart said. "You have to grow the rest of your team toward moving that way. Your roster has to develop to that point."

This article appeared on page B - 3 of the San Francisco Chronicle