It was Steph Curry’s second game back from his knee injury, which had kept him out for 27 straight games dating back to late January. Curry returned from his knee issue, showing no signs of a setback in the loss to the Houston Rockets on Sunday, finishing with 29 points, 2 rebounds, and 4 assists while shooting 11-for-21 from the field and 5-for-10 from three.
However, Curry’s rust showed much more heavily in Tuesday’s 120-115 win over the Sacramento Kings. The Warriors’ superstar finished with 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists while shooting 5-for-12 from the field and 4-for-11 from three.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said after the win over Sacramento that “he isn’t sure yet if Steph Curry will play on Thursday against the Los Angeles Lakers. He added that ‘he doesn’t believe the right knee soreness that kept Kristaps Porzingis out against the Kings is serious.” Sam Gordon of the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Stephen Curry’s Value to the Warriors in the Postseason
Stephen Curry is working his way back to full potential and, hopefully, will get to that point before the start of the Play-In Tournament a week from Tuesday.
Golden State had a 10-19 record in the games Curry missed from Jan. 30 to April 5. This has led to a 37-42 overall record and the final Play-In spot as the 10-seed. It’s clear the Warriors were desperate for firepower in Curry’s absence, and the team is hoping the setbacks are behind them.
Before Steph Curry went down with what was labeled as “runner’s knee,” the Warriors had a 27-23 record and were right in the playoff mix in the West as the eight-seed.
In his age-38 season, the years where the future Hall of Fame point guard was averaging 30 points a game may be behind him, but he’s still the poster boy in Golden State. Through 40 games (39 starts) this season, Steph Curry is averaging 27.3 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 4.8 assists while having 46.9/39.3/92.8 shooting splits.
He also always finds a way to make it difficult for opposing teams in the playoffs. Before suffering a hamstring strain that led to the Warriors getting eliminated from the playoffs in the second round, Curry helped Golden State upset the No. 2-seed Houston Rockets in the first round in 2025.
With three games remaining in the regular season, the Warriors have no possible way to climb up the standings. The Portland Trail Blazers hold a three-game lead over them and also hold the tie-breaker between the two teams.
Kristaps Porzingis Injury
Assuming that Steph Curry won’t play in back-to-back sets for the rest of the regular season, he and Kristaps Porzingis will most likely only have two games to build chemistry together before the Play-In Tournament.
Porzingis sat out of the Warriors’ win on Tuesday while dealing with knee soreness. The expectation is that he will be ready for Golden State on Thursday. Porzingis has experienced a series of unfortunate injuries dating back to his championship run with the Boston Celtics in 2023-24.
Before being traded to the Warriors from the Atlanta Hawks earlier this year, Porzingis underwent knee surgery and multiple illnesses, which have led to him missing large portions of the regular season and multiple playoff games over the past two seasons.
When he’s active for Golden State, he produces. In 13 appearances for the Warriors this season, he averages 16.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.2 blocks per game with 44.3/32.8/83.9 shooting splits.
Golden State is hoping that the injury nightmare is behind them. Jimmy Butler III and Moses Moody won’t be available for the Warriors while they recover from significant knee injuries, but they will have the rest of its main core down the stretch.
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