Stephen Curry, after much consternation, finally made his return to the Golden State Warriors lineup on Sunday night against, fittingly, the Houston Rockets. Curry had missed the past 27 games for the Warriors due to a knee injury, so the Warriors decided that it would be best to bring him off the bench to bed him into action.
It did not at all look as though Curry played his most recent NBA game on the 30th of January, as he looked fresh coming off a lengthy absence. Despite the Warriors' 117-116 loss to the Rockets, seeing Curry do well and look spry has to be very promising for the team as a whole especially with the play-in tournament looming.
Curry, in 25 minutes off the bench, put up 29 points on 11-21 shooting from the field (5-10 from beyond the arc). The Warriors star drilled a few incredible three-pointers, was moving so well all over the court, and he nearly gave the Dubs a win over their longtime nemesis.
Despite the loss, Steph was electric in his return!
🏀 29 PTS
🏀 4 AST
🏀 5 3PM pic.twitter.com/0NClieHfMD— NBA (@NBA) April 6, 2026
Can Warriors make noise in the 2026 NBA Play-In Tournament?
With four games to go in the regular season, the Warriors basically are locked into the 10th spot in the West standings. They are behind the Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Clippers by four games, so it is close to impossible for them to move up.
Being the 10th seed means that the Warriors will need to win two games just to earn the eighth seed in the West. Both of those games will be coming on the road. Curry is an electric superstar who can turn this team from good to great, but he's also already 38 years of age and is far from the miracle worker he once was in the past.
The Warriors will be needing a miracle if they were to qualify for the playoffs. But with Curry back and looking very healthy, anything can happen, that's for certain.
