Curry’s early exit leaves Warriors short in Houston and ends their eight-game surge

Stephen Curry’s night in Houston ended almost as soon as it began, and the Warriors’ winning streak went with him. He left Wednesday’s game in the first quarter with right abdominal soreness, did not return, and Golden State’s eight-game run ended in a 115-108 loss to the Rockets.

The sequence changed the game on a single possession. Curry made a 3-pointer with about 7 1/2 minutes left in the first quarter, his only basket of the night, then put his hand on his right side and winced as he backpedaled. He walked over to coach Steve Kerr at the next dead ball and headed to the locker room, where the team later ruled him out with abdominal tightness.

The injury did not end with his departure from the bench area. Kerr said Curry left the arena in the second half to get an MRI, and the team had not yet received information from the imaging when the game ended. Kerr said his concern was high, but he did not know the extent of the injury, which leaves the next update dependent on the evaluation rather than the box score.

Curry’s exit mattered because it stripped away the player who had set the pace for Golden State’s start. He entered the night ranked second in the NBA in scoring at 30.6 points per game and had been the Warriors’ leading scorer in six of their eight straight wins, a stretch that followed an 0-3 start. By the time he left, he had three points and the Warriors had already lost their most reliable source of shot creation.

Golden State still had chances to stay attached to the game, but not enough to protect the streak. The Warriors were held well below their season average of 120.4 points per game, and the Rockets controlled enough of the evening to finish off the defending surge. Houston’s win was its own statement, but the more immediate development for Golden State was that its longest winning streak since 2022 was over.

The Warriors also had to sort out how to replace Curry’s production in real time. Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg led Golden State with 25 points and 10 rebounds, and Brandin Podziemski added 22 points. Those numbers kept the game competitive, but they came after Curry was gone, and they did not erase the gap left by a player who had already carried much of the scoring load during the streak.

Houston’s late control mattered as much as Curry’s early departure. The Rockets led by nine points early in the fourth quarter before Golden State answered with 3-pointers from Georges Niang and De’Anthony Melton to cut into the margin. That push made the closing minutes less comfortable for Houston, but it did not turn the result. The Rockets still finished with a 115-108 victory, and the Warriors left with both a loss and a new injury concern.

The cleanest takeaway from the night is the timing: Curry’s first-quarter exit altered the shape of the game before it could settle into a normal playoff-style grind, and Golden State never recovered enough to keep the streak alive. The next meaningful development is the MRI result and the team’s follow-up on Curry’s abdominal issue, but the standings note is already fixed — the eight-game winning streak ended in Houston.