Warriors Get Massive Boost as Seth Curry Inches Toward Return — A Preseason Moment That Could Change a Season
In the dimmed lights of the Toyota Center before tip-off, Seth Curry stepped onto the court and drilled four consecutive corner threes during a pregame workout, Kristaps Porziņš alongside him. The sight of that routine — precise, repetitive, quietly defiant — announced that the warriors may be on the verge of getting back a critical shooter at a pivotal moment.
What happened in Houston that suggested a comeback?
The pregame footage from Thursday in Houston showed Curry warming up with a streak of corner threes, a small but clear signal after a long absence. He has appeared in just two games this season, both in early December, before a sciatic nerve injury shut him down. His December debut produced 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting against the Oklahoma City Thunder in limited minutes, a brief reminder of the shooting touch he brings.
That night the team itself overcame an availability crisis — the Warriors pulled off a 115-113 overtime victory with seven of their 14 rostered players out. Three two-way contract players logged meaningful minutes in the win. Brandin Podziemski and those two-way contributors shouldered the immediate load, but the pregame images of Curry and Kristaps Porziņš offered a different kind of relief: reinforcements may be nearer than the box score suggested.
Warriors: Can Seth Curry’s return change the team’s shot profile and fortunes?
The arithmetic is straightforward. The team ranks 14th in three-point percentage this season, while Curry carries a career 43. 3 percent mark from deep. His ability to space the floor is a measurable upgrade for a team that leans on the three but has not shot it efficiently enough. At 35 and with a 12-year NBA career behind him, this stretch is more than immediate help for the roster; it is an audition for Curry as much as a potential boost for the franchise. His contract situation is uncertain heading into next summer, so the final weeks of the season carry outsized significance for him personally.
Those intertwined stakes — the team clinging to an eighth-seed position and Curry seeking to prove health and effectiveness — are why a pregame drill of corner threes matters beyond warmups. If he can recapture the efficiency shown in that early December game, both player and team stand to gain at a critical juncture.
What comes next: schedule pressure, depth questions and small victories?
The Warriors face a congested stretch: a trip to Oklahoma City is next, followed by back-to-back games against Utah and Chicago. Every game matters for a team in a tight playoff scramble. The narrow win in Houston showcased depth from unexpected places, but it also exposed the unsustainability of extended absences. The potential returns of Curry and Kristaps Porziņš were framed in the locker room chatter as lifelines; if those returns arrive in time and at full strength, they could help steady rotation minutes and revive perimeter shooting.
Sports journalist Keith Watkins has noted how the pregame footage may end up being as significant as the upset itself: Curry needs a late-season window to reestablish value, and the Warriors need shooters. For both parties, timing is everything.
Back in the Toyota Center, the echo of ball on hardwood after Curry’s fourth corner three still hung in the air — a quiet punctuation that felt, in that moment, like the beginning of something rather than the end. The warriors have shown they can survive crises; whether they can thrive again may hinge on how Curry’s next appearance lines up with a grueling schedule and a roster finally finding its depth. The pregame streak answered one short question and left a larger one open: can a few clean shots late in the season change both a player’s fate and a team’s trajectory?
