Warriors Blown Out in First Game Without Curry as Star Flies Home to Begin Rehab
Stephen Curry has flown home to San Francisco to begin rehabilitation on the torn oblique that will keep him out for weeks, and the Golden State Warriors felt his absence immediately — a 123-85 blowout loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night in their first game without their superstar.
Curry left the team after Saturday’s shootaround and will spend the next week working with the Warriors’ performance director, Rick Celebrini, ESPN’s Anthony Slater reported. He will not travel with the team while he starts his recovery.
The Warriors announced on Thursday that an MRI had confirmed a tear in Curry’s right oblique and that he would be re-evaluated in two weeks. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported the same day that Curry is expected to be sidelined for closer to a month — well beyond the team’s public timeline.
A brutal first night without Curry
The Spurs made the Warriors pay from the opening tip. San Antonio raced to an 18-0 lead, and the game was effectively over within the first five minutes. Golden State never recovered, falling behind by 38 points in a loss that laid bare just how much of the offense runs through Curry.
No Warriors starter scored in double figures on the night. The team will lean on Brandin Podziemski and rookie Yaxel Lendeborg to carry the scoring load while Curry heals, and the coaching staff now faces the task of reconfiguring an offense built around the NBA’s all-time leading three-point shooter.
The defeat dropped Golden State to 8-4, ending the momentum of a start that had included an eight-game winning streak after an 0-3 opening.
Curry heads home to start rehab
Curry’s trip home marks the start of a recovery process with no fixed return date. The Warriors’ two-week re-evaluation, expected around November 26, is a checkpoint — not a clearance date. Charania reported that the team will use that exam to judge whether the rehabilitation needs three weeks, four weeks, or longer.
The 38-year-old guard had already spoken to his teammates at halftime on Wednesday, telling them to stay focused and assuring them he would be fine, according to Slater.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr struck a cautious note after the injury was confirmed. “It could’ve been much worse,” Kerr said. “It’s good to know at this stage, it looks like he’s gonna be alright, but we won’t really know, so we’re all kind of waiting to see how it all unfolds over the next week or two.”
Warriors legend Baron Davis was more blunt, calling the injury “scary” during an appearance on “Gil’s Arena” and questioning whether Curry would truly be back in two weeks.
How the injury happened
Curry was hurt in the first quarter of Wednesday’s 115-108 loss to the Houston Rockets, grabbing his right side as he headed to the locker room. The team ruled him out with right abdominal soreness, and he underwent an MRI later that night.
The Warriors confirmed the diagnosis on Thursday: a torn right oblique — the abdominal muscle that helps a shooter rotate through his shot. The Warriors have not publicly assigned the injury a specific grade.
It is the latest setback in a difficult run of health problems for Curry. He played just 43 games last season because of a knee issue, averaging 26.6 points, 4.7 assists and 3.6 rebounds as the Warriors missed the playoffs. He also sprained his right ankle in practice on October 18, less than a week before this season’s opener. This season he is averaging 27.8 points, 3.9 assists and 3.7 rebounds, and had already sat out two of the first 11 games for rest on back-to-backs.
Why this matters
The timing could hardly be worse for Golden State. Curry is not the only star sidelined: Jimmy Butler is out with a knee injury, Kristaps Porzingis is dealing with a health issue, and Moses Moody and Brandon Williams are also unavailable. With more than $150 million in salary on the sidelines, the Warriors are suddenly thin at every position.
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The absence also reshapes the Western Conference race. The Spurs, riding a 10-game winning streak behind Victor Wembanyama, looked every bit a contender on Friday, while the Warriors must now survive a stretch of their schedule without the player their entire system is built around.
History suggests patience is warranted. Recent NBA players with oblique tears have typically missed around five and a half weeks, according to a review of league injury data by sports medicine physician Dr. Brian Sutterer, while abdominal strains have averaged closer to two weeks. Austin Reaves missed 25 days with a partial oblique tear. That gap is the difference between a short absence and a month-long one — and the Warriors will not know which it is until the re-evaluation.
The injury also adds to a week of injury news elsewhere in American sports, with the NFL reviewing its own high-profile health situation.
What comes next
Golden State has two days off before hosting the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday, November 15. Curry is also expected to miss the trip to Dallas to face the Mavericks on November 18, and the earliest return suggested by outside estimates — November 29 against the LA Clippers — remains only an estimate, not a team date.
The next formal update will come at the re-evaluation in about two weeks. Until then, the Warriors must find a way to win without the player who has defined the franchise for more than a decade — starting with a Pelicans team that will be eager to take advantage.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Stephen Curry’s injury?
Curry suffered a tear in his right oblique, an abdominal muscle, during Wednesday’s loss to the Houston Rockets. An MRI confirmed the tear on Thursday, November 12.
How long will Stephen Curry be out?
The Warriors will re-evaluate Curry in two weeks, around November 26, but that is not a return date. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Curry is expected to miss closer to a month, and the team will decide after the re-evaluation whether his rehab needs three weeks, four weeks, or longer.
Who replaces Curry in the Warriors lineup?
The Warriors will lean on Brandin Podziemski and rookie Yaxel Lendeborg to carry the scoring load, with the team also missing Jimmy Butler, Kristaps Porzingis, Moses Moody and Brandon Williams.
When do the Warriors play next?
Golden State hosts the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday, November 15, after two days off. Curry will not travel with the team and is expected to miss the November 18 game at Dallas as well.
The Warriors’ first night without Curry was a warning: the road ahead without him will not be easy. How quickly the 38-year-old heals — and how well the rest of the roster holds up in the meantime — will shape Golden State’s season.
Sources: Heavy — “Warriors Get New Stephen Curry Update After Spurs Loss” and “Stephen Curry Injury: Diagnosis, Return Date, Status“; Sports Illustrated — “Warriors Announce Injury Return Timeline for Steph Curry’s Oblique Tear“; theScore — “Curry out at least 2 weeks with oblique abdominal tear“; Bleacher Report — “Stephen Curry Injury Update, Latest News and Timeline to Return for Warriors Star.” Injury details via the Golden State Warriors’ official announcement and ESPN reporting by Shams Charania and Anthony Slater.
