Steph Curry’s electrifying return gives Warriors a glimmer of hope down stretch

SAN FRANCISCO – After a 64-day absence, a glimmer of hope appeared inside Chase Center early Sunday evening. It ran through the veins of the Warriors and their fans, and some of it surely bolsters the NBA and its pursuit of profit.Stephen Curry, sidelined since Jan. 30, returned and spent 26 minutes giving the Warriors so much of what they’ve missed and needed over the past 27 games.Energy that lifted his teammates and electrified the sellout crowd (18,064).Buckets early and late.A clutch game against the playoff-bound Houston Rockets.A glimmer of hope for the remainder of Golden State’s season.Pretty much everything except the W.Curry’s superb performance gave the Warriors a chance at victory – they took a one-point lead with 19.6 seconds left – but it was not enough to prevent a 117-116 loss to the Rockets, whose superior shooting and rebounding were more than enough to offset donating 23 points to Golden State off turnovers.“We’re back in the mix,” coach Steve Kerr said. “We’re back in the fight with Steph. (Houston) is a hell of a team. They’ve been really hot lately and fully healthy. And we took them down to the last shot. I felt good about the effort and the process.” "We're back in the mix. We're back in the fight with Steph." Steve Kerr and the Dubs have faith again pic.twitter.com/sQaeBZjTJZ — Warriors on NBCS (&commat;NBCSWarriors) April 6, 2026 The Warriors’ touchstone is back, and he looks ready to lead. Curry scored a team-high 29 points, on 11-of-21 shooting from the field, including 5-of-10 from distance, adding four assists. He posted a team-best plus-12.“We have two meaningful games, hopefully down the stretch,” Curry said, referring to the NBA play-in tournament next week. “But this is meaningful basketball in the sense of preparing ourselves for that moment. It’s not like we can just sleepwalk through these last four games and not focus on details that will help us win a do-or-die game and then do it again.”Curry came off the bench with 4:54 left in the first quarter and was greeted by a 45-second standing ovation. He spent a few minutes wiping away cobwebs before drilling a 3-pointer from the left wing with 34.1 seconds left in the quarter. Not until the second quarter did Curry look like the man who lifts the Warriors and instills anxiety in opposing defenses. He was running his typical shuttle drills through various Rockets, displaying a burst that might assuage those concerned about the lingering effects of the runner’s knee diagnosis that forced him out.“The first (quarter) was tough, the second one was great,” Curry said. “Second quarter, once I got my feet underneath me and obviously momentum carried all the work you put in, the rehab to get through even 26 minutes at that level, I was very grateful.”That second-quarter sign of recovery sent a wave of energy through the building, reaching a crescendo in the final seconds.After Gary Payton II drove for a layup to give the Warriors a 116-115 lead with 19.6 seconds remaining, the Rockets called a timeout and set up a play that resulted in Alperen Sengun cutting for a layup off a Kevin Durant pass with 11.1 seconds left.The Warriors hoped to run a quick pick-and-roll, but it didn’t materialize. Curry heaved a 30-foot shot that missed and the buzzer sounded two seconds later.“There was a lot of nerves all day,” Curry said. “My family supported me at home, and I was a nervous wreck trying to pass the hours before I got to the arena. But once you get back into your routine, you’ve been doing it for so long, muscle memory takes over. And the adrenaline takes over.“I appreciate the fans and the reception, just the buzz that was in the arena, because you know at that certain point you want to be able to tap into that. Very grateful. It was a beautiful day, and now I can kind of settle into how we’re going to finish the year.”Curry’s right knee was wrapped, just as it was earlier this season, but there was no sign of discomfort once he loosened up. He flashed a sudden stop, throwing Houston’s Amen Thompson off balance before nailing a step-back triple. A gorgeous dribble drive and deceleration before accelerating into a layup.Before long, Curry was cooking the Rockets and having fun, stutter-stepping, shimmying and shooting smoldering sneers after converting a finger roll while being fouled by Sengun. The and-1 plus the shimmy &zwj;pic.twitter.com/g8tGvgq3g1 — Warriors on NBCS (&commat;NBCSWarriors) April 6, 2026 The anxiety that had become commonplace at Chase seemed to clear with each quarter.“You can hear it with the crowd, and there’s a different energy in the building, and there’s a different confidence with our team,” Kerr said. “He just infuses the whole team with confidence. Being able to play off him makes the game much easier for everyone else. There is a momentum, a confidence. He’s Steph Curry for a reason.”The Warriors can only hope this is the start of a revival that can raise their threat level. Hope that their defense is more effective. Hope that Curry and Kristaps Porzingis can harmonize well enough to punish defenses over what’s left of this season.Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast

Steph Curry’s electrifying return gives Warriors a glimmer of hope down stretch

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