National Basketball Association

Warriors coach Steve Kerr to return Friday against Pacers

Published Jan. 22, 2016 10:49 p.m. ET

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OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Coach Steve Kerr is returning to the Golden State Warriors' bench Friday night after a leave of absence dating to the first week of training camp in October as he recovered from complications following two back surgeries.

The defending champion Warriors made the announcement Friday morning that Kerr would coach Golden State against Indiana at Oracle Arena, where the Warriors will try to win their 38th straight regular-season home game to tie the 1985-86 Celtics for third place on the all-time list for such unbeaten streaks.

Kerr said in mid-December that he was optimistic he would be back in the coming weeks. Kerr had been dealing with headaches and other issues after the operations - the first procedure causing him to leak spinal fluid - that followed Golden State's first championship in 40 years. He watched the Warriors' record 24-0 start behind the scenes.