If you hadn’t known Stephen Curry was battling a knee injury, a recent performance against the Houston Rockets proved he came back right where he left off.

Coming off the injury, which sidelined Curry for two months, he scored 29 points in a limited 26 minutes of action against the Houston Rockets, while nailing five of his 10 three-point attempts. Curry’s long-awaited debut provided a glimmer of joy in what has been an underwhelming season for the Golden State Warriors.  

The superstar may have shown no signs of rust in his first game back, even though his knee problems aren’t in the rearview.

The Challenges of Curry’s Knee

What made Steph Curry’s knee injury and recovery process difficult was how tricky his injury actually was.

Curry was dealing with what the team described as “runner’s knee” ever since he lefta game against the Detroit Pistons early on Jan. 30.

Runner’s knee typically involves pain and swelling around the kneecap area. Though Curry initially expected to be back soon after Jan. 30, his knee continued to flare up. There was no magical remedy that could have fast-forwarded his comeback.

During his absence, the Warriors slipped to the 10th seed. The team also ran out of bodies to suit up while Curry was out, relying primarily on young and sometimes unproven players. The injury has been an invasive thought on his mind. Each day carries a question mark of how his knee will respond.

“Every day I wake up, first thing I think is how this is going to feel. That’s been a struggle throughout this whole process,” he recently toldESPN’s Anthony Slater.

Curry’s knee likely needs to continue being monitored. It will take some time for him to adjust to playing on his knee post-injury.

“There’s nothing structurally wrong with my knee,” he said to Slater. “So it’s not like I’m compromised out there. It is a new normal, though, if that makes sense.”

Curry has the green light to play in NBA games now, but it may still be a recurring issue in the future, given his age.

Adapting to the Injury

If Steph Curry’s performance versus the Rockets is any indication of how his knee will hold up, the Warriors don’t need to worry. 

But the Warriors will still play it safe with their MVP the rest of this year. Especially, as he continues to increase his minutes load slowly but surely. He has come off the bench in the first two games since he returned, hovering around the 25-minute mark. 

Steve Kerr echoed this sentiment during a recent press conference following Curry’s return to action.

Curry is slowly creeping up on 40 and has already endured a series of injuries, even before the runner’s knee diagnosis.

He knows that his recovery process requires adjustment now to maintain the health of his knee going forward. An extended period of rest without the rush of gearing back up for NBA action would be ideal. That will have to wait until Golden State’s 2025-26 season ends.

“It’s just a matter of understanding what I need to do off the court to make sure everything around my knee is strong and firing the right way,” the 38-year-old told NBC Sports Bay Area this week. “I’ll take full advantage of the offseason, whenever it is, to have a full reset. And then you just figure out what it looks like going into next year.”

It’s Not Yet Over for Curry

The Dubs are locked into the Play-In Tournament. It will likely face the Portland Trail Blazers in the 9/10 game. It is difficult to imagine a world in which the Warriors decide to call his season a wrap unless he or the medical team believes there is an issue. The team will need their franchise hero at his best if it wants to sneak into the playoffs.

Curry’s longevity remains nothing short of amazing over his 17-year career. Advances in sports science have helped athletes bounce back quicker than ever, still play at high levels, and maintain that for a longer period of time.

Steph Curry’s knee injury is by no means the official kickoff of an imminent farewell tour. But it is a reminder that each ailment must be taken seriously as he enters the final chapter of his career. 

The post Warriors Must Continue Managing Steph Curry After Knee Injury appeared first on The Lead.

The NBA‘s tanking debate picked up steam this week after Sacramento Kings head coach Doug Christie made a puzzling late-game decision against the Golden State Warriors.

The Kings held a one-point lead with just over three minutes remaining when Christie called for an intentional foul on Seth Curry. The timing raised eyebrows since Sacramento was already in the penalty, sending Golden State to the free-throw line.

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The Warriors went on to win 110-105, handing the Kings their 59th loss of the season. The move sparked immediate criticism and prompted the league to launch an investigation.

NBA reaches decision on Kings coach Doug Christie investigation

Questions swirled about whether Christie deliberately tried to lose the game, especially given Sacramento’s depleted roster and position in the standings. The NBA wrapped up its review on Thursday and released findings that cleared Christie of any intentional wrongdoing.

“The NBA has completed an investigation of the Sacramento Kings and Head Coach Doug Christie’s decision to foul intentionally late in the team’s game against the Golden State Warriors on April 7,” the statement read.

“The league’s investigation determined that Christie mistakenly believed that the Warriors were not in the penalty and therefore instructed his team to foul in an attempt to stop the clock and utilize one of the team’s remaining timeouts. The investigation found that Christie made no intentional effort to give the Warriors a shooting foul, or to cause the Kings to lose the game.”

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According to the league’s findings, Christie thought Golden State was not yet in the penalty. He wanted to stop the clock and save a timeout, a standard late-game tactic. The mistake came down to a mental lapse rather than any deliberate strategy to tank.

The Kings entered the matchup severely undermanned. Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, and De’Andre Hunter all sat out following season-ending surgeries. DeMar DeRozan and Russell Westbrook were also unavailable Tuesday night.

Sacramento leaned heavily on younger players down the stretch of the season, but team sources insisted there was no lack of effort despite the roster situation.