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ByDiamondLeung BayAreaNewsGroup OAKLAND Stephen Curry will probably be unable to play in Game 3 of the Western Confer- ence semifinals against the Port- land Trail Blazers, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Thursday. "It's tough to see him playing Saturday," Kerr said of the game at Portland. Kerr said it was conceiv- able Curry could return from a sprained right knee in time for Game 4 on Monday after the reigning MVP completed a three- day process in order to return to action. Curry had yet to play 3-on- 3, according to Kerr. The head coach did lay out a scenario in which Curry could play 2-on-2 with assistants before Saturday's game and practice Sunday. "We need to see him in rhythm, cutting, moving and see how he responds the next day," Kerr said. Klay Thompson said Curry was "moving pretty well." Curry has been ramping up workouts in the weight room and doing some drills on the court apart from the rest of the team, according to Kerr. "The good thing is that he's got- ten better and better each day with his rehab, and so now he's taking things out onto the court," Kerr said. "So if that progress con- tinues, then yeah, it's conceivable he could practice with us on Sun- NBA PLAYOFFS CURRYUNLIKELYTO PLAY ON SATURDAY Coach says rehab is going smoothly BENMARGOT—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Golden State will face the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 3of a second-round playoff series Saturday in Portland. By Beth Harris The Associated Press LOUISVILLE, KY. Bob Baffert feels under the radar with his latest horse at the Kentucky Derby. All anyone wants to talk about is American Pharoah, last year's winner who went on to become the sport's first Tri- ple Crown champion in 37 years. Outside his barn at Churchill Downs, visitors pull special edition bourbon bottles deco- rated in Pharoah's teal silks out of plastic grocery bags for the Hall of Fame trainer to sign. He listens patiently while they re- count their memories of the peo- ple-loving colt, "who made them feel so good," Baffert said. He calls it the "American Pharoah hangover." Clearly it's the best kind to have. "I don't know if we'll ever see one that intelligent, that kind, where I could bring him out here and you guys could be all over him. He didn't care, he loved human contact," Baffert said. "Nobody flies that much and runs that well. It's just crazy that he could handle it. I don't think we'll see one that tough." Earlier in the week, Baffert and wife Jill visited American Pharoah at his new home in Lex- ington, where the colt is busy producing possible future Derby runners when he's not greeting the public five days a week. "It was a little emotional. It was like going to visit your child at camp," Baffert said. "I think he recognized Jill. She talks to him in this little high sweet voice and he nickered to her. He's still really sweet and kind. They let me walk him around and be by myself with him." Then it was time to get in the KENTUCKY DERBY Baffert returns with under the radar horse By Dave Skretta The Associated Press KANSAS CITY, KAN. Clint Bowyer will be a busy man this weekend at Kansas Speedway. He'll start off by jumping into a truck for the first time in a cou- ple years on Friday night, a one- off ride with GMS Racing. Then he'll slip into his regular ride with HScott Motorsports in the Sprint Cup race on Saturday before giv- ing fans who purchased a car from his dealership ride-alongs on Sunday. In other words, Bowyer will be too busy to ruminate on how rocky this season has been. In what was supposed to be a bridge year between the folding of Michael Waltrip Racing and tak- ing over Tony Stewart's ride next year, Bowyer has twice blown up at his team on the radio, labored to get his No. 15 car anywhere near contention and even brought his own considerable ability into question. "I think everybody knows me, whether I'm frustrated or happy or whatever, that ventilation — whether it's a celebratory venti- lation or a pissed off — the wick is pretty short. It burns out in about 5 minutes," Bowyer said Thursday. "The next thing out of my mouth is, 'All right, what are we going to do to fix it?' "I don't really care about yes- terday or what happened in a practice or race, this sport is all about what are you going to do tomorrow?" he said. "That's what you have to instill in yourself." Bowyer is accustomed to being in the best equipment, whether it was the past few years with Wal- trip or his early years with Rich- ard Childress Racing. And Bow- yer knew there would be plenty of growing pains when he joined up with Harry Scott's smaller opera- tion for this season. He admits now that he wasn't quite prepared for the enormity of the challenge. "When you're down, most of the time there's a reason you're down, especially when you're as far down as we are down," Bow- yer said. "(But) we've got some good things coming that I'm ex- cited about." It's not as if this season has been a total throwaway. He fin- ished eighth a few weeks ago at Bristol, and last week survived the wrecked-filled race at Talla- dega to finish seventh. It's just that in between was a 33rd at Richmond, when Bowyer exploded at his ill-prepared team in a profanity-laced tirade. And before that lousy runs at Daytona, Atlanta and elsewhere. At times it's hard to believe that this is the same driver who won the Xfinity Series championship in 2008, or reached victory lane eight times in the Cup Series. And it's just as hard to believe that it's been four years since Bowyer's last victory at Charlotte. "I've been doing this for 10 years. There's nothing that sur- prises you in this sport," he said. "It's the same 'ol song and dance: When you're running good, it's easy. When you're running bad, it's the hardest thing you've done in your life. ... It's a hard business and it's very competitive." NASCAR Clint Bowyer navigating rough season to Stewart-Haas DERBY PAGE 2 BAY AREA NEWS GROUP San Francisco 49ers rookie defensive lineman Ronald Blair could move quickly into the defensive line's rotation. By Cam Inman Bay Area News Group To upgrade the defensive line, the San Francisco 49ers invested their top draft pick in DeForest Buckner … and their first pick in the fifth round on Ronald Blair. While Buckner commands at- tention as the No. 7 overall pick, Blair's selection could easily sneak under the radar at pick No. 142. "I'll probably be everywhere on the D-line," Blair said Thursday, shortly upon arriving at the 49ers facility for a three-day rookie minicamp. Blair's versatility could insert him quickly into the defensive line's rotation, a platoon-like ap- proach that figures to be needed if the 49ers' offense gets off the field quickly under Chip Kelly's up-tempo scheme. "I've got to figure out my role and get my role real strong with the team," Blair added. "It looks like we're taking a great step for- ward. We've got a great team here and great leaders." Blair (6-foot-2, 270 pounds) excelled as a pass-rushing nose tackle the past two seasons, but also played as an end in base packages. He produced 19 tack- les for loss and 7 sacks as a se- nior at Appalachian State, the alma mater of 49ers center Dan- iel Kilgore. "It's real good coming in as a rookie and having someone that went to your school, is a legend at your school and has a great repu- tation here," Blair said. A legend? "He knows he's a legend. But I haven't said it to him person- ally," Blair added. "We definitely respect him down there. Kilgore will always be a name held up high in Appalachian State coun- try." Buckner, Arik Armstead and Quinton Dial are the most likely options to start on the defensive front come the Sept. 12 season opener. While Buckner and Armstead are 6-foot-7 towers and Dial is a 6-5 force, Blair knows his smaller stature demands perfection on each and every snap. 49ERS Rookieeagertohelpdefense WARRIORS PAGE 2 MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry has been ramping up workouts in the weight room with his teammates. 49ERS PAGE 2 NASCAR PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, May 6, 2016 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1