{"id":188517,"date":"2026-04-12T16:00:02","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T20:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=188517"},"modified":"2026-04-12T13:56:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T17:56:05","slug":"stephen-curry-is-back-but-the-warriors-are-still-losing-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/04\/12\/stephen-curry-is-back-but-the-warriors-are-still-losing-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Stephen Curry Is Back \u2014 But the Warriors Are Still Losing Games"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Despite the return of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/curryst01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stephen Curry<\/a>, nothing has changed for the Golden State Warriors, as losses continue ahead of the play-in tournament.<\/p>\n<p>Curry&#8217;s two-month absence was a difficult stretch for Warriors fans. Golden State only won nine out of 27 games during that period. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/04\/05\/steph-curry-finally-gets-to-play-with-porzingis-and-his-real-splash-brother-plus-warriors-ink-another-big-man\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">His return<\/a> was expected to turn things around. But instead, their struggles have continued, even with their hero on the floor. With multiple losses heading into the play-in tournament this week, the Warriors&#8217; playoff hopes are now in serious doubt.<\/p>\n<p>If Curry&#8217;s presence is no longer enough to shift results, the question becomes: What is really holding the Warriors back?<\/p>\n<h2>Stephen Curry Is Back \u2014 But the Warriors Are Still Losing Games<\/h2>\n<h3><span>Recent Losses Show a Bigger Problem<\/span><\/h3>\n<div>\n<div><span>The alarming reality for the Warriors is they are still losing games with Curry back on the floor. Since his return, many across the NBA expected Golden State to turn a corner and actually stay competitive to build momentum for the postseason. However, the results suggest otherwise.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Steph Curry (29 PTS &amp; 5 3PM) Was ON FIRE in Return \ud83d\udd25 | April 5, 2026\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/x3Wn2qOiVYA?start=26&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div>\n<div><span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/warriors\/news\/gameday-recap-20260405\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Warriors fell to the Houston Rockets<\/a> by a single point in Curry&#8217;s first game back, despite his impressive 29-point performance. On Thursday, they suffered a 124-118 <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/anthonyVslater\/status\/2042824680625836176\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">defeat to the Sacramento Kings<\/a>, a team currently level with the bottom seed in the Western Conference, with Curry limited to 11 points in 27 minutes.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><span>Rather than being a one-off setback, the results point to a deeper issue. Even with their most influential player available, the Warriors have been unable to find consistent winning form. And at this stage of his career, the 38-year-old point guard can no longer be expected to carry the team on his own. The fact that they&#8217;re struggling against the 14th seed in the West raises major concerns about their confidence heading into the play-in tournament, which is now only a few days away.<\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"max-width: 800px\"><smartframe-embed class=\"smartframe_wp_element\" customer-id=\"b0c95bc04383cef69c6b47df872135cf\" image-id=\"WmOBGfEGk6hM\" style=\"width: 100%; display: inline-flex; max-width: 3072px; aspect-ratio: 3072\/2049;\" ><\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3><strong data-start=\"166\" data-end=\"224\">Over-Reliance on <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Stephen Curry<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<div><span>It&#8217;s no secret the Warriors rely heavily on their 12-time All-Star. With injuries across the roster, the burden on Curry has only increased, with the guard expected to perform at an elite level each night simply for the team to remain competitive.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><span>This season, Curry has played in just 42 games, highlighting how much time the Warriors have been without their four-time champion. As a result, the Dubs are set to finish the regular season in the 10th seed, their lowest seeding since the 2019-20 campaign. A similar situation occurred that year, as Golden State finished at the bottom of the West with only 15 wins, while Curry played just five games due to a broken left hand.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><span>The pattern is clear: when Curry is unavailable, the Warriors struggle to win. However, the more concerning reality is that even with him back, there&#8217;s no real improvement. Each loss right now says more about the team&#8217;s overall structure and where the franchise is heading in the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/02\/28\/nba-insider-suggests-steph-curry-could-retire-after-2027-season\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">post-Curry era<\/a>. And it looks like they don&#8217;t have a plan in place for the future.<\/span><\/div>\n<h3><span>Play-In Pressure Comes at the Worst Time<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Steph Curry Post Interview After Golden State Warriors Loss Against Sacramento Kings!\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pE-o91eVQ6g?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div><span>The first play-in game is fast approaching for the Dubs. Before that, they face the Los Angeles Clippers in their last regular-season game, a potential preview of a play-in matchup. The pressure is now firmly on the seven-time champions. This is their final opportunity to prove they can compete with the league&#8217;s best, despite the challenges they faced throughout the campaign.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><span>With inconsistent form, ongoing injury concerns and even Curry, who averages 26.6 points a game, unable to translate his performances to wins, the Warriors find themselves in a difficult situation at the most crucial time.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><span>If nothing changes quickly, the Warriors risk another early exit in the play-in tournament, extending it to 0-4. That would leave head coach Steve Kerr facing difficult offseason decisions. Decisions which could reshape the future of the franchise and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/02\/15\/injured-not-finished-stephen-curry-eyes-final-playoff-push\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Curry&#8217;s role within it<\/a>.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><span> If Curry can no longer carry the franchise, who can?<\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><span>\u00a9 Robert Edwards-Imagn Images<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite the return of Stephen Curry, nothing has changed for the Golden State Warriors, as losses continue ahead of the play-in tournament. Curry&#8217;s two-month absence was a difficult stretch for Warriors fans. Golden State only won nine out of 27 games during that period. His return was expected to turn things around. But instead, their [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5650,"featured_media":188756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,25,62,3],"tags":[48],"class_list":["post-188517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-warriors","category-nba","category-news","tag-stephen-curry"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5650"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188517"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188517\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":188759,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188517\/revisions\/188759"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}