SAN FRANCISCO – With the gospel track “Father I Stretch My Hands” blasting through the Chase Center sound system on Easter Sunday, a hooded Steph Curry glanced toward the basket.
As the music crescendoed, he raised both arms out and above his head, a smile etched upon his face as the fans began to cheer.
Curry may not have been in the starting lineup, and he might have been limited to only 26 minutes while scoring 29 points in the Warriors’ 117-116 loss to the Rockets, but it mattered little.
After missing 27 consecutive games with a sore right knee, days of rehab and setbacks, that simple gesture said it all. Steph Curry was overjoyed to be back.
Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) warms up with assistant coach Bruce Fraser before the Warriors game against the Houston Rockets at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, April 5, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
That joy was evident late in the the third quarter after he crossed up former teammate Kevin Durant and dropped in a teardrop shot through the foul. As he sat on the floor while surrounded by teammates, Curry unleashed his signature shimmy to the delight of peers and fans alike.
The paying public went from raucous to delirious on the next possession, when Curry raced downcourt and splashed a triple off the dribble. It was fitting that Curry returned to torment the Rockets, the franchise he has denied postseason glory for over a decade.
With 33 seconds remaining, after scoring five straight points and in possession of the ball, the Warriors used Curry’s gravity to draw defenders out of the paint, giving Gary Payton II enough space to catch a pass from Draymond Green and put in a layup for a 116-115 lead.
After Alperen Sengun answered with a layup, Curry had a chance to win it. His long triple from the top of the arc was off.
It was a downer of an ending to what had begun with Curry on the bench.
Curry, wearing a bulky wrap around his knee, leaned back and took a long, deep breath before exhaling as the game tipped off. He was serenely intense.
His mere presence appeared to energize the Warriors early, with Golden State making 5 of its first 7 shots and Gui Santos scoring eight points as the Warriors jumped out to a 13-6 lead after three and a half minutes.
With 4:54 left in the first quarter, Curry checked in to a 45-second standing ovation from the Chase Center crowd.
He went through a truncated version of his pregame ritual, and then joined Will Richard, Santos, Draymond Green and new 10-day contract signee Charles Bassey.
His first touch resulted in a wide-open dunk for Bassey, displaying the kind of defense-bending gravity the Warriors have missed for months.
With 33.4 remaining in the first quarter, Curry jogged around the left wing as the defense scrambled following a Warriors offensive rebound, and buried the 3-pointer for his first basket.
The Warriors led 31-26 after one quarter, but trailed early in the second period after the Rockets went on an 11-0 run in a little over two minutes. The Warriors were able to claw back thanks to some stellar two-way play by an engaged and active Green.
His perfect pass to a cutting Brandin Podziemski gave the Warriors a 42-40 lead midway through the second quarter. After a timeout by a frustrated Rockets coach Ime Udoka, Curry checked back into the game.
Basketball fans cheer as Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) is introduced as he comes into the game during their game against the Houston Rockets in the first quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, April 5, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
He briefly joined his brother Seth on the court, but it wasn’t until Seth checked out that Steph Curry made his second 3-pointer of the night.
A few moments later, he took Jae’Sean Tate off the dribble and finished a tough layup with his right hand. The rust was still evident after Curry shot 4 of 10 in the first half, but his mere presence brought an unmistakable and unique electricity back to the building.
Sure, there were errant 3-pointers, and a wild reverse layup that was way off in the third quarter. Of course there was, as one would expect from a player who has not played organized basketball since January.
There were also high-arcing 3-pointers that touched nothing but the net, a difficult runner through contact that went in, and the kind of gravity that gave Kristaps Porzingis a layup just by cutting into space while the big man dove.
Kevin Durant scorched for 31 points in his return to the Bay Area, and Curry was incandescent in a third quarter that saw him score 11 points on 4 of 6 shooting. Podziemski scored 18 on the night and Santos put up 15 for the Warriors.
Curry was on the floor as Golden State embarked upon their comeback, with his layup slicing the Rockets’ advantage to just 112-111 with under two minutes remaining, and then back to one point with a 3-pointer with a minute to go.
For as exciting as Sunday night was for those watching Curry, there remains questioned unanswered by his first shift. He only played nine minutes with Porzingis, and did not run a single pick-and-roll with the Latvian big before Porzingis fouled out early in the fourth quarter.
He also played only a handful of minutes with the Santos-Podziemski-Green-Porzingis lineup that will likely close games for the Warriors in the postseason.
Perhaps more of those questions will be answered on Tuesday, when they play the Kings at Chase Center, or against the Lakers on Wednesday.
Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) high-fives Golden State Warriors’ Seth Curry (31) during their game against the Houston Rockets in the second quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, April 5, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)