Steph Curry exits Warriors-Rockets game early with abdominal injury

Joseph Dycus, The Mercury News on Nov 12, 2026

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HOUSTON – The Warriors started their five-game trip through the Southwest Division in the worst way possible. Steph Curry injured himself in the first quarter of Wednesday’s game in Houston against the Rockets and did not return.

The Warriors ruled him out during the second quarter with right abdominal soreness. Golden State lost 115-108, snapping their eight-game winning streak.

Curry was knocked to the floor several times during the first few minutes, but he appeared to injure himself on a made 3-point basket.

He seemed to sustain the injury with 7:22 remaining in the first quarter as he shot and made an uncontested 3-pointer from the wing.

Curry grimaced while walking back downcourt, and a video replay showed Curry holding his right side as he made his way back to the locker room with Warriors medical personnel after a Warriors timeout with 6:25 left in the first quarter.

Both Will Richard and Draymond Green said that Curry made an appearance in the locker room at halftime.

“He just said ‘I’ll be alright,'” Green recalled.

Curry left the arena before postgame media availability began, and he will undergo an MRI.

De’Anthony Melton started in Curry’s stead to begin the second half. Even with Curry out, there was still plenty of excitement in a game between teams with playoff ambitions.

Rockets guard Marcus Smart was ejected with 21 seconds left in the third quarter after he threw a punch at Charles Bassey following a brief confrontation.

“It didn’t surprise me, I knew he was gonna do something, and I waited for him to do something, because I knew he was gonna do something,” Bassey said. “I don’t think he was trying to play. I think he was trying to get himself out of the game.”

The Warriors showed fight during play, too.

Down three of their guards, the Warriors asked rookie Yaxel Lendeborg to take on more ballhandling duties. He responded by putting up his third double-double of the season in a 25-point, 10-rebound performance. Draymond Green also put up a season-high seven points while dishing out seven assists. Brandin Podziemski put in 22 points, his second consecutive game with at least 20.

Houston native LJ Cryer scored 11 in front of friends and family.

Golden State kept things competitive into the fourth quarter, with Melton’s 3-pointer cutting the Rockets lead to just 88-85 with 10 minutes remaining.

But the Rockets depth was too much to overcome, though. Reed Shepard made back-to-back 3-pointers 90 seconds later to help push the the lead to double figures.

Former Warrior Kevin Durant put up 20 points, while Alperen Sengun scored 19 and had 13 rebounds and all five Rockets starters scored in double figures.

Injuries are nothing new for Curry, the two-time MVP, at age 38.

Curry missed 39 games last season, 27 of those due to runner’s knee. The Warriors had spent the preseason and early portion of the regular season carefully managing his minutes, as he has eclipsed the 30-minute mark only four times in nine appearances. Curry played only 20 minutes on Monday night against the Pelicans.

He responded to the new routine by producing at an elite level. He has averaged 30.6 points, shooting 50 percent from the field and 46 percent on 3-pointers, twice scoring more than 40 points already as the Warriors began 8-3 and entered Wednesday winners of eight in a row.

The Warriors are just beginning a daunting road trip that will see them play at San Antonio on Friday, at New Orleans on Monday and Dallas next week. They were already without guards Brandon Williams (hamstring) and Gary Payton II (knee) on Wednesday night. Richard was cleared to play with a thumb injury.

“Concern (level) is high, but I hae no idea the extent of the injury,” coach Steve Kerr said.