Curry re-evaluated, will need at least another 10 days
Preview: Clippers, Rockets and Thunder incoming as Warriors weather storm
Stephen Curry has now had two MRIs on his right knee, and hasn’t appeared since the end of January. As announced yesterday by the Golden State Warriors, Curry is going to need at least another 10 days - and even then, they’re calling it a re-evaluation.
There’s no disguising that this is fairly doomy-and-gloomy as far as updates go. Thankfully, there still doesn’t appear to be any structural damage. Though a vague promise of “making progress” isn’t a glowing affirmation that was hoped for, the timing does at least have him returning a couple of weeks prior to the end of the regular season (April 12th).
Further, the already short-handed Warriors lost Will Richard to a rolled ankle in the 2nd quarter of the team’s loss against the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday. He’s been ruled out for today’s game, but appears likely to be available later in the week as the Warriors won’t play again after tonight until Thursday (against the Rockets).
Up tonight: the Los Angeles Clippers - unfortunately, one of the hottest teams in the league right now, going 16-3 over their last 19 games.
GAME DETAILS
WHO: Golden State Warriors (31-29) vs. Los Angeles Clippers (27-31)
WHEN: Monday, March 2nd, 2026; 7pm PST
WATCH: NBCSBA
Batten down the hatches!
How far beyond that re-evaluation on March 11th Curry actually returns is the huge looming question. With the absence of Butler, and the ongoing lingering questions around Porzingis, the Warriors are a team that is very much at risk. Of course, given all of the above, maybe this is all just playing out the string anyways. In a season that has come down to a sequence of gambles that haven’t quite paid off, this is fittingly how the end of the regular season approaches.
It’s far from the height of the Warriors’ high stakes lifestyles of earlier in the dynasty, but these upcoming games are going to be significant.
The NBA’s play-in tournament rules can get a bit Byzantine, but to be clear: it’s way better to be the 8th seed than say, the 10th. If the Warriors can hold on to their fingertip-edged position, it means that they’d only need to win one game in two attempts to advance into the full playoffs. Lower in the brackets means more likelihood of road games, and higher barriers to entry. No 10th seed has ever made it.
Looking at the schedule, ten days for a re-evaluation sets up Curry to be cleared after the game against the Chicago Bulls. Given the Warriors schedule, that could set him up for a return as early as next Friday in Minnesota, or it becomes a “ready whenever he’s ready” scenario hitting in an extended road trip mid-March.
After what you see in the picture above, that will be pretty much it on the season. The team’s final Regular Season game is a couple of weeks beyond the edge of what’s shown above - on April 12th (against the Clippers, funnily enough).
Most immediately, the Warriors have a crucible of a week coming up, and not a lot of weapons to deploy. As summarized by DNHQ’s own, Riley Gaucher, many of these contests are going to be coming down to a war of attrition - the Warriors are simply running out of elite players.
The rest of the contest was unfortunately predictable. The Lakers had the three best offensive players on the floor by a staggering margin — no active Warrior is even averaging 13 points a game this season
Some nights this won’t matter. Those are the sweet wins. Where Al Horford pours in an easy 15 points, and one of Golden State’s role players puts up one of those “how did he beat us?” nights that are so frustrating for opponents. But this is a tenuous balance. A fragile formula.
It’s a matter of simple survival. The Warriors don’t need to be spectacular right now; they just need to still be standing when help arrives.
That’s part of what makes tonight’s game so compelling. Much like the Warriors, the Clippers have simplified their plans for the season. Narrowing a focus around Kawhi Leonard and a talented bunch of young, hustling players, their season has been defined by unsteadiness. I put a cherry picked stat at the top of this article around the Clippers strong recent overall record, but both the Warriors and Clippers are 4-6 over their previous 10 games. This is a winnable game.
And here’s why basketball is so fun to watch: this flat out doesn’t make sense sometimes. I’m not sure Brandin Podziemski is ever the best player on the court, but man, his impact can sure make it seem like that sometimes. Basketball, much like life, simply doesn’t make sense all the time. You can do everything right and lose, so the important thing becomes the pattern. Storms pass. Hold course, keep the boat intact, and give yourself a chance to sail when the skies clear.
Golden State’s pattern feels good. The odds aren’t stacked in this team’s favor, but as far as the things that are under their control, this current iteration of the depth chart can squeeze a few wins out of the unyielding, terribly fickle hands of the Basketball Gods.
This isn’t peak dynasty. This is Oakland A’s moneyball at best. The Warriors are way down deep into their list of options, and the fans are just getting dragged along for the ride. Everyone is waiting for the news of Curry’s return, and hoping for the best interim results.
At a minimum, this team will need to tread water for five more games without Curry - some of which (like tonight) promise to be absolutely brutal. But the Warriors can pull some of these off; and the measure of success is much, much lower than previous years. This team isn’t going to win most of these games, and the honest truth is that they don’t have to. Just tread water.
The the season isn’t gone.
Until Stephen Curry walks back through that tunnel, survival is the mission. Steal a few wins, hold the line, and make the games matter when he does.
Prediction
The Warriors are going to pull this one off. That Lakers drubbing was out of scale for how competitive Golden State has been recently.