HOUSTON — As the days left in the regular season continue to roll off the calendar, Golden State Warriors stalwart Draymond Green remains hopeful that star guard Stephen Curry will be able to return before the season comes to a close. Curry has been out since Jan. 30 because of runner’s knee and his return continues to be unclear — but Green is confident that Curry will return before it’s too late.
My confidence level is high ultimately because he’s going to put in all the work and do everything he can to get back,” Green said after Thursday’s surprising 115-113 overtime win over the Houston Rockets. “And if his body allows him to get back, I know he will come back. He’s not one to just shut it down.”
Green said that Curry was texting him “a bunch of exclamation points,” after Thursday’s win in a building where the pair has dominated the Rockets through the years. Notably, Green said that even after being Curry’s teammate for 13 seasons, he knows this absence is weighing on the two-time MVP. Thursday marked the 12th straight game Curry has missed, with no set return date on the horizon.
“For us, we just got to stay afloat,” Green said. “Nobody’s expecting us to go on a ten game winning streak, but you just got to stay afloat. You can’t let things go too far south. And that’s what we’re trying to do and tonight’s a big step towards that goal.
“You’re never going to see him rattled, but I know him well enough, it’s been a little challenging. Needless to say, he’s staying around the guys, staying positive. He’s texting me today like, ‘Keep going, I know it’s tough, but promise you I’m coming back.’ He does a great job staying in it even when he’s not here or playing, does a great job of staying in it.”
The good news for the Warriors is that as Curry tries to rehab his way back on the floor, veteran big man Kristaps Porziņģis is also doing more on the floor after missing six straight games because of an illness.
The 30-year-old told The Athletic he was feeling better but otherwise declined to comment on his recovery process as the Warriors hope he is able to do more over the next few days.
“No timeline,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said of Porziņģis before Thursday’s game. “But he’s on the (road) trip, and he’s gonna get a workout today, and we’ll just take it day by day from there.”
Kerr hesitated to provide much more of an update on Porziņģis, who was acquired from the Atlanta Hawks at last month’s trade deadline in exchange for Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield. The 30-year-old big man has only played in one game for the Warriors, and his uncertain status has lingered within the organization.
Last October, Porziņģis told The Athletic that he had been diagnosed with POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome), which had limited him to just 42 games during the 2024-25 season with the Boston Celtics. The Warriors were outwardly confident they could help Porziņģis stay on the floor — he has played just 60 games over the last two seasons — but haven’t resolved this most recent issue. Last Friday, Kerr told 95.7 The Game in San Francisco that Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh told him Porziņģis didn’t have POTS. A day later, he walked those comments back, saying he made a “stupid mistake” trying to speak about Porziņģis’ condition.
“It’s great that he’s here and great that he’s feeling well enough to be on the trip,” Kerr said. “Hopefully that bodes well for him playing soon.”
While Porziņģis has gone through on-court workouts over the last couple of days, he has yet to be fully cleared to practice. The Warriors will travel to Oklahoma City to face the Thunder on Saturday before ending this three-game road trip against the Utah Jazz on Monday.
For his part, Green said the rest of the locker room isn’t concerned about when Porziņģis returns and only wants to support their new teammate as he tries to get healthy again and stay on the floor.
“There’s no uncertainty because we don’t really operate like that,” Green said. “When a guy is hurt, or sick or whatever, there’s no one around here like pressuring you, making you feel pressure like ‘Yo, what’s going on?’ We don’t move that like that.