If you missed the NBA on NBC‘s Sunday Night Basketball game between the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors, well, you missed a doozie, as the Rockets hung on to win after Steph Curry‘s last-second three just missed. But while it was a tough loss for the Dubs, in many ways, it was a win, seeing as Curry played his first NBA game since January, after a 27-game absence due to a lingering knee injury. 

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Not only did Curry return to action (and alongside his brother Seth Curry, at that), he returned just like you’d expect, in dominant fashion, finishing the game with 29 points in just 26 minutes (two more minutes than he was projected to play in his first game back). Granted, Curry’s return to the fray comes late in the regular season, with the Warriors just hanging onto playoff hopes without their star. 

With the 2026 NBA Playoffs (including select games on NBC and Peacock) just around the corner, what happens to the Golden State Warriors‘ postseason hopes now that Curry has returned to action?

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What are the Golden State Warriors’ 2026 NBA Playoffs chances now that Steph Curry is back in the lineup?

On paper, the Warriors’ 2026 NBA Playoffs hopes don’t look any better than they did yesterday, in fact, they look a little worse after that loss to former Warrior Kevin Durant and his tough Rockets squad. But they don’t play the games on paper, and any time you have a 12-time All-Star and two-time NBA MVP return to your lineup, your chances start to look a lot better.

Still, with four games left to play in the regular season, it’s going to be an uphill climb for the Warriors, even with Curry in the lineup. They currently hold the last and final 10th seed in the Play-In Tournament, and since they don’t hold the tiebreaker over the 9th placed Portland Trail Blazers, that’s where they’re staying.

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So that means not only do they have to win the first round game of the Play-In Tournament between the 9th and 10th seeds, but to insure a spot in the playoffs, they’ll also have to win the final round game of the Play-In as well. And if they do that, they’ll get to face the No. 1 seed in the West, either the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, or the San Antonio Spurs and the basically unguardable Victor Wembanyama.

Still, betting sites are way more gung ho about the Warriors’ chances with Curry than without him. According to StatSniper, “The Warriors need wins in the final stretch and then back-to-back victories in the play-in itself. With Curry, both of those things are at least plausible. Without him, the math was dire.”

Can Curry, who came in off the bench in the Rockets game, get back into the starting rotation in time to ramp up to his usual MVP effect in time for the Play-In Tournament? We shall see!Â