The 2025-26 NBA season is wrapping up. There’s just one week remaining in the regular season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Teams are happy to be approaching the finish line. It’s a long season.\u00a0The Rockets are currently fifth in the Western Conference, with not much wiggle room in either direction. Houston is just one game above the Minnesota Timberwolves, who hold the sixth spot, and are just 1.5 games behind the fourth seeded Denver Nuggets.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Houston has already clinched a postseason berth and are guaranteed to be exempt from the play-in tournament based on being victors of the tie-breaker over the Phoenix Suns, who currently occupy the seventh seed in the West.<\/p>\n
Every game matters. One game coming up on Houston’s schedule just got magnified: the Golden State Warriors game on Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Warriors superstar and legendary sharpshooter Stephen Curry will be making his return from a rather lengthy absence that’s sidelined him for two months. The Warriors are 10th in the Western Conference with a 36-41 record.<\/p>\n
They’re pretty much guaranteed to make the play-in tournament, while also staying in the 10th spot. The Memphis Grizzlies are behind them at 11th, by a margin of 10.5 games.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The LA Clippers are ahead of them at ninth place by a margin of three games. Curry has missed 38 games this season and the Warriors are 13-25 without Curry in the lineup. <\/p>\n
Curry is averaging\u00a027.2 points, 4.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds, 46.8 percent from the field, 39.1 percent on deep (on 11.5 outside attempts), 58.5 percent effective shooting, 93.1 percent from the foul line and 63.6 percent true shooting this season. He also made his 12th All-Star selection in February.<\/p>\n
The Warriors and Rockets have already squared off twice this season, with the both teams splitting a game. The Rockets beat the Warriors earlier in the season, by a score of 104-100, with Curry, but that was in November. <\/p>\n
In that game, Houston held Curry to 14 points on 13 shots. The two teams also matched up again last month, this time without Curry in the lineup. <\/p>\n
But Curry’s absence didn’t prevent the Warriors from beating the Rockets in overtime. Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski had 26 points, while Warriors guard De’Anthony Melton poured in another 23 points. <\/p>\n