Stephen Curry Out at Least Two Weeks With Oblique Tear After Leaving Warriors' Loss to Rockets

Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry will be reevaluated in two weeks after an MRI revealed an oblique abdominal tear suffered in the first quarter of a 115-108 loss to the Houston Rockets. He will miss at least seven games, starting Friday in San Antonio.

Nov 12, 2026 - 14:18

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Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry will miss at least two weeks with an oblique abdominal tear, the team announced Thursday, Nov. 12, a day after the 38-year-old guard left a 115-108 loss to the Houston Rockets in the first quarter. The Warriors said Curry will be reevaluated in two weeks after an MRI exam revealed the injury, according to The Associated Press, which noted that tears of this kind can sometimes take longer than two weeks to heal.

ESPN reported that the timeline will keep Curry out of at least the next seven games, against the San Antonio Spurs, New Orleans Pelicans, Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies, Boston Celtics, Sacramento Kings and Portland Trail Blazers. CBS Sports pointed out that the two-week mark is a reevaluation date rather than a return date, and that it does not include any ramp-up period Curry would need before he is cleared to play.

How the injury happened in Houston

According to ESPN, Curry began grabbing at his right side a few minutes into Wednesday's game at Toyota Center and tried to play through the pain while glancing toward the Warriors' training staff. CBS Sports and Sports Illustrated reported that the trouble followed a moment in which Curry became tangled with Rockets center Alperen Sengun on a screen early in the first quarter.

With 7:22 left in the opening quarter, Curry came off a Draymond Green screen and made a 28-foot 3-pointer, but he yelled in pain after the release and signaled toward the bench, ESPN reported. He went to the locker room at the next stoppage and exited with 6:25 remaining in the quarter. Early in the second quarter he was ruled out with what the team then called right abdominal soreness, and he left the arena during the second half for an MRI.

The Warriors' official game recap said Curry played five minutes and finished with three points, a total that extended his streak of games with at least one made 3-pointer to 102. ESPN reported that at halftime, before leaving for the scan, Curry spoke to his teammates, told them to focus on the game and assured them he would get through the injury.

After the game, coach Steve Kerr said Curry had never experienced this kind of injury before. "He said he tweaked something in his abdominal area," Kerr said, as quoted by CBS Sports. "He said he's never done it before. ... Concern is high, but I have no idea the extent of the injury."

A winning streak ends

Golden State trailed 19-10 when Curry departed, rallied to tie the game, and ultimately lost by seven, ESPN reported. The defeat snapped an eight-game winning streak, the team's first run of at least eight straight wins since its 2022 championship season, according to the Warriors. Kevin Durant led Houston with 20 points, while Sengun and Amen Thompson each added 19, the AP reported. Sengun finished with 13 rebounds and nine assists.

Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg led all scorers with 25 points and 10 rebounds for his third career double-double, including 13 points in the second quarter after Curry's exit, according to the Warriors' recap. Brandin Podziemski added 22 points and four 3-pointers. The game grew heated late in the third quarter, when Rockets guard Marcus Smart was ejected after an altercation with Warriors reserve center Charles Bassey, Yahoo Sports reported.

Curry had been producing one of the most efficient starts of his 18-season career. ESPN reported that he was averaging 27.8 points in 26.3 minutes per game, along with 3.9 assists and 3.7 rebounds, and was shooting a career-high 45.7% from 3-point range. CBS Sports said Golden State opened the season 8-4 with a top-three offense.

A thin roster gets thinner

The injury adds to a long list of absences. ESPN reported that starting wings Jimmy Butler III and Moses Moody are rehabilitating long-term knee injuries, that projected starting center Kristaps Porzingis has stepped away from the team and the sport, and that backup guard Brandon Williams strained a hamstring and will miss at least a week. CBS Sports added that Gary Payton II is also sidelined and that wing Will Richard is playing through a ligament tear in his thumb; the Warriors said Richard scored nine points in 18 minutes on Wednesday.

Sports Illustrated calculated that Curry, Butler, Porzingis, Moody and Williams together account for $154.3 million of a roster payroll of $220.8 million. The Warriors went 13-26 in the 39 games Curry missed last season, according to ESPN, and are 1-1 without him this season. SI noted that despite the strong start, Golden State sat only one game ahead of the 10th-place Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference.

Green said he believes this year's group is better equipped to handle the absence. "The spirit of this team is better," he said, as reported by ESPN. "We're more certain of who we are, what makes us a good team. I think that puts us in a better position to be successful without him as opposed to where we were last year." He pointed to Lendeborg's ability to create an advantage with the ball and said Podziemski "is playing a lot better."

The Warriors continue a five-game road trip Friday in San Antonio, then face Dallas and New Orleans on a back-to-back, according to CBS Sports.