Stephen Curry appears to be back to normal.
After missing 27 games with a lingering knee injury, Curry made his return on Sunday night and immediately looked back to his old self. It just wasn’t quite enough to lift the Golden State Warriors past the Houston Rockets.
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The Rockets, after letting Golden State back in front in the final seconds, picked up a 117-116 win over the Warriors on a game-winner from Alperen Sengun.
Curry finished with 29 points off the bench after he went 11-of-21 from the field and 5-of-10 from the 3-point line. He played just 26 minutes, and had a look at a buzzer-beater from the top of the key, but it was just off the mark.
It was the first regular season game that Curry came off the bench for since the 2011-12 campaign. He last came off the bench in the first round of the playoffs in 2022. It was also the first time that Curry had shared the court with his brother, Seth Curry, while playing on the same team.
Stephen Curry takes off in return
Curry entered the game just under the five minute mark of the first quarter, and he received a standing ovation from fans at the Chase Center. Immediately, Curry found a cutting Charles Bassey for an easy dunk to pick up an assist on his first possession of the night. Then a few moments later, he drained a quick, deep 3-pointer through a pair of Rockets defenders in true Curry fashion.
He entered halftime with 10 points after shooting 4-of-10 from the field and 2-of-5 from behind the arc to keep the Warriors within just two points of the Rockets.
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If his first half outing wasn’t enough, Curry proved himself in the third quarter. He dropped 11 points in the period and helped spark an 11-0 run to get the Warriors back in the contest, which included a deep 3-pointer and a wild and-one floater.
Curry got the Warriors within a single point of Houston with about 60 seconds left in the contest, too, after he hit a huge 3-pointer between Sengun and Amen Thompson.
Gary Payton then got a layup on a goaltending call to put the Warriors up by one, which set up one final look for the Rockets. That’s when Sengun made his layup to seal the win for Houston.
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Brandin Podziemski had 18 points to go with Curry’s 29 for the Warriors. Gui Santos finished with 15 points, too. The loss was the fourth straight for the Warriors, who now sit at 36-42 on the season and are in 10th in the Western Conference standings.
All five of the Rockets’ starters hit double figures in their win, led by 31 points, eight rebounds and eight assists from Kevin Durant. Sengun added 24 points and seven assists, too. The Rockets, at fifth in the West, have won six straight.
Stephen Curry working with ‘new normal’
Curry missed 27 games due to a right knee injury he first sustained back in January, though Curry wasn’t supposed to be out as long as he was. Eventually, after initially thinking it was a non-major injury, the Warriors described it as patella-femoral pain syndrome and bone bruising.
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Curry revealed on Saturday that there was no structural damage in his knee, but he’s trying to get to his “new normal” with his leg.
“It was more of a mental thing at first, meaning I didn’t know enough about it. I thought I was going to be out a week. Ten days max, let it calm down,” he said. “Every time I got on the court or tried to push it in that first month, there was always — I wouldn’t call it a reaction, it just wasn’t healing as fast as you thought.
“The patience then was tough just because it’s one of those injuries you really have to let rest. There’s nothing you can push through or be on the court while it’s healing. It’s just a different experience than most injuries that I’ve had, that had a very defined timeline and a very defined process.”
Curry entered Sunday night’s game averaging 27.2 points and 4.8 assists per game this season. The 38-year-old was on a minutes restriction and played in shorter bursts than usual. The goal, head coach Steve Kerr said before the game, was to allow Curry to ramp up to full strength for the play-in tournament. The Warriors have just four games left in the regular season, starting with the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday.
While he’s still on a restriction, Curry looking back like his old self already is sure to help the Warriors in the final stretch of the regular season. His return, even though Golden State didn’t get the win on Sunday night, seems to have come just in time.