Stephen Curry injured versus Rockets

Stephen Curry walked off the Toyota Center floor Wednesday night holding his right side, and the Warriors' season tilted on its axis. He had just drilled a three-pointer with 7:30 left in the first quarter, then winced, told Steve Kerr he'd tweaked something in his abdominal area — something he said he'd never felt before — and disappeared into the locker room. An MRI was taken at halftime; the team still had no results by the time Houston closed out a 115-108 win that snapped Golden State's eight-game streak. Kerr admitted concern was high but said he had no idea the extent of the injury.

The timing could hardly be worse. This was Game 1 of a five-game swing through San Antonio, New Orleans, Dallas and Memphis — four playoff-caliber opponents in eight nights. Golden State already entered the trip without Jimmy Butler, Moses Moody, Kristaps Porzingis and backup point guard Brandon Williams. Melton, a career reserve with 174 starts across nine seasons, is the likeliest candidate to start at point guard, but he's played just 12 games this year and started only two.

Nirav Pandya, a UCSF orthopedic surgeon, noted on X that if the soreness is an oblique strain — the most common abdominal injury in NBA players — the typical absence is around four games, though severity changes everything. A four-game absence would cover the Spurs, Pelicans and Mavericks, with a possible return against Memphis next Thursday. But the Warriors have no diagnosis yet, and Kerr's "no idea" comment suggests the imaging didn't offer immediate clarity. Curry, 38, was averaging 32.6 points on 52.8 percent shooting during the win streak, with two 40-point games. He led the team in scoring in six of the eight victories. Replacing that production isn't a rotation adjustment; it's a structural problem.

The Rockets game showed both the floor and ceiling of a Curry-less Warriors team. But one game against a rebuilding Rockets team is not the Spurs with Victor Wembanyama protecting the rim, or the Mavericks' defensive schemes, or Ja Morant in transition. The Warriors' margin for error was already thin; now it's effectively gone until Curry returns, whenever that is.