In what was an emotional game with the return of Steph Curry, the Golden State Warriors suffered a 117-116 loss to the Houston Rockets on Sunday night. Going into this matchup, the storyline centered around Curry, who returned to the Warriors’ lineup for the first time since suffering a knee injury on Jan.29.
Typically, a 27-game and two-month layoff would be reason to not expect much from an NBA player in their injury return. But Curry threw that narrative out the window.
The 38-year-old continued his mastery by scoring a team-high 29 points in 26 minutes off the bench, along with two rebounds and four assists. He shot 11-for-21 from the field and 5-for-10 from the three-point line. He also missed the potential game-winning shot in the closing seconds.
The back-and-forth contest was a wide-open affair that ultimately ended in the Rockets’ favor, who now won both games at Chase Center, going 3-1 this season. This was the Warriors’ fourth consecutive defeat, and their seventh in the last ten, and their first one with Curry after the injury.
Curry is undeniably the heart of this team. But even with him in the lineup, defensive lapses and preventable mistakes continued to surface. After Curry, Brandin Podziemski led the scoring with 18 points, Gui Santos, who has been a revelation this year, had 15 points and Gary Payton II added 14 points.
Golden State Warriors Playoffs Picture: Updated Standings and Best Case Scenario
So, the Warriors are still holding down the final play-in spot with four games left to play, two on the road and two at home. Golden State have now left themselves an inordinate amount of work if they are to sneak into the playoffs.
They are 36-42 and most likely to finish as the 10th seed. They would have to beat the ninth-place team, which would be either the Blazers or Clippers, on the road before facing the loser of the 7th vs 8th matchup, likely the Suns, Clippers, or Blazers, to advance to the first round.
Last year, the Dubs were the seventh seed after winning the 7th vs 8th seed battle. They finished the season with a 48-34 record. Now, a critical four-game stretch against the Kings twice, Lakers and Clippers will determine whether the team touches the 40-win mark.
One can have no doubt they will push for better odds for the playoffs, especially with Curry’s return, and they will be looking at getting the desired results despite recent mediocre results.
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