Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry celebrates after making a 3-point basket in the course of the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets, Sunday, April 5, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
SAN FRANCISCO — Stephen Curry swished a 3-pointer on his second shot from deep and raised his arms in delight when the ball went through.
Curry is back and healthy in the end for the Golden State Warriors, and everybody at Chase Center celebrated the magnitude of the moment right together with him.
Coming off the bench within the regular season for the primary time in 14 years, Curry was greeted by a warm standing ovation and greetings on the massive screen — he also expressed his gratitude on video — when he entered with 4:54 left within the opening quarter against the Houston Rockets on Sunday night.
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“I’M BACK.”
Steph (21 PTS) swishes the three and proclaims his return! pic.twitter.com/SiZa7ZkgaY
— NBA (@NBA) April 6, 2026
He immediately passed off for an assist on a dunk by Charles Bassey, who just signed with Golden State earlier within the day. Curry made a 3-pointer with 34 seconds remaining within the period.
This marked the primary time he has come off the bench in a regular-season game since March 7, 2012, against Memphis. He last was a reserve in Game 4 of the primary round of the 2022 playoffs in the course of the Warriors’ last championship run.
Curry’s pregame warmup is at all times a must-see show long before the fundamental event, and the cheers were extra loud for his latest session now that he’s finally back on the ground.
Curry was cheered pregame, too, and set to play about 25 minutes following a two-plus-month absence and 27 straight games sidelined due to a right knee injury.
He signed a couple of autographs after his shooting routine then missed his full-court heave before disappearing into the tunnel.
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“He’s one of the crucial beloved players in league history, Bay Area history in any sport and I feel a protracted absence like this reminds everybody how lucky we’re to see him, to look at him, to teach him, to play with him,” coach Steve Kerr said. “So tonight’s a special night because we’re reminded of how lucky we’ve been and the way lucky we still are.”
Kerr said before the sport that it’s still unclear how lots of the remaining games Curry will play given Golden State has five contests in eight days with a back-to-back the remaining of the best way — and the expectation is he wouldn’t play on consecutive nights.
“We’re going to administer it accordingly. The plan for tonight could be shorter bursts and we’ll see on the minutes,” Kerr said. “But first game back he’s not playing 48 minutes.”
The schedule shall be determined by how Curry feels and input from Vice President of Player Health and Performance Rick Celebrini.
Rockets coach Ime Udoka knew Houston would have its hands full with No. 30 back.
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“Among the best movers in the sport. 4 other guys at a time are targeting getting shots for him, in order that’s not only one guy, after which does an excellent job on the whole with all of the screens, off-ball actions, and pick-and-rolls,” Udoka said. “It’s a team effort. We must be locked in on that, and clearly we’ve seen him enough and know some things which have hurt us prior to now, and we’d like to organize for that with him coming back.”
Curry scrimmaged several times this past week to check his injured right knee, and he said Saturday it was never a consideration to shut it down for the remaining of the season. Kerr hoped to have Curry and younger brother Seth finally play together.
When Steph Curry re-entered the sport on the 6:19 mark of the second quarter, they did — the primary time brothers played together in Warriors franchise history, in accordance with Elias. Seth Curry also has been injured much of the season.
Seth Curry did appear in six preseason games for Golden State in 2013 then played for the team’s G League Santa Cruz Warriors that yr — with the brothers playing all of 100 seconds together in the course of the fourth quarter of two games during that ’13 preseason.
Kerr had said Saturday that Stephen Curry was expected to play for the primary time since Jan. 30 against Detroit, though the Warriors listed him as questionable.
READ: NBA: Stephen Curry to miss at the very least one other 10 days for Warriors
Curry warmed up in Kevin Durant’s “Scoring Title” Nike KD 4s with former teammate Durant playing for the Rockets.
After Saturday’s practice, Curry said coping with the pain is an element of his “latest normal” and the offseason would require a major reset.
The 38-year-old Curry initially expected to be playing right after the All-Star break, however the recovery was prolonged by some difficult moments when he would feel good, push hard then pay for it the next day.
Curry leads the Warriors in scoring with 27.2 points per game and it has been frustrating.
The Warriors (36-41) had lost three straight games overall and were 13-25 this season without Curry — including 9-18 during this stretch with him sidelined by patellofemoral pain syndrome.