Stephen Curry's Injury Shakes Golden State's Momentum

HOUSTON — The shot dropped, the crowd buzzed, and then everything went quiet for Golden State.

Stephen Curry buried a 3-pointer with a little more than seven and a half minutes left in the first quarter on Wednesday night against the Houston Rockets, the kind of smooth, effortless stroke that has defined his season. As he backpedaled, though, his hand went straight to his right side. His face tightened. The celebration never came.

Within seconds, Curry was walking toward the Warriors’ bench, speaking briefly with coach Steve Kerr before heading directly to the locker room. No detour. No testing it out. Just a slow, ginger walk down the tunnel, his right side guarded by his arm, the pain obvious.

By the end of the quarter, the news followed: Curry was ruled out for the rest of the game with right abdominal soreness.

For a team that has roared back from an 0-3 start to win eight straight, the sight of their star leaving so early cut straight through the momentum. Curry has been the engine of that surge, leading Golden State in scoring in six of its last eight games, dragging the Warriors from early-season concern into something far more familiar: relevance, rhythm, and fear for opposing defenses.

He arrived in Houston in MVP-level form. The two-time Kia MVP and 12-time All-Star entered the night ranked second in the NBA in scoring, pouring in 30.6 points per game. His shot has been ruthless, his movement relentless, his presence the foundation of everything Golden State has tried to build after that shaky opening week.

That’s what made the scene so jarring. One moment, another deep three. The next, a wince, a hand to the side, and a star walking off before the game had even begun to take shape.

The Warriors have spent the past two weeks reminding the league how dangerous they can be when Curry is rolling. Now, as they wait for clarity on his condition, the question flips: how will they look — and how long can they last — if he’s not?