Report: Steph Curry Will Return from Knee Injury for Sunday's Rockets Game

Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry has been cleared to play Sunday's game against the Houston Rockets, per ESPN's Shams Charania and Anthony Slater.

Curry has missed the last 27 games with runner's knee.

Curry scrimmaged on Tuesday and Thursday, and it was believed that he would return by Sunday if he had no setbacks after the scrimmages. And that appears to be exactly what will happen.

The Warriors went 9-18 in Curry's absence. Overall, Golden State is 23-16 when Curry plays this season and 13-25 when he doesn't.

At 36-41, the Warriors have almost no chance of catching the Trail Blazers (40-38) or Clippers (39-38) to move up in the Western Conference standings. So they will almost assuredly finish 10th place, which will force them to win two road games in the play-in tournament to advance to the playoffs.

Curry-Porzingis 2-Man Game Could Be Lethal

Curry will return to a Warriors team that looks pretty different than the one he last played with on Jan. 30.

Jimmy Butler had already suffered a season-ending ACL injury, but since then, the Warriors traded for Kristaps Porzingis and lost Moses Moody to a season-ending knee injury. Also, Gui Santos emerged as one of their best players.

How Curry fits with Porzingis will be the headliner down the stretch.

Porzingis is the most talented center Curry has every played with. He's averaging 26.7 points per 36 minutes, which is second on the team behind Curry (31.3).

Porzingis' three-point shooting (career 36.5 percent) is solid, but his ability to score in the mid-range and paint will be extra valuable.

The 7'2" Latvian destroys teams that switch in pick-and-roll coverage, but they might have to live with that because the alternative is doubling Curry and leaving Porzingis wide open.

If teams don't switch at all, that will lead to Curry coming off screens for open threes.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Is There Potential for Reinjury?

UCSF orthopedic surgery professor Dr. Nirav Pandya wrote on X that reinjury is possible.

"The other issue to monitor is how the knee responds to several days of intensive activity. It can feel great after 1-2 scrimmages but the return to high level NBA basketball games can cause symptoms to flare back up."

It's not clear what another injury would look like.

In any event, a reinjury would be devastating not only to the Warriors' chances in the play-in tournament but also their overall offseason morale.

Curry's return will provide a light at the end of a brutal seaon. The last thing the Warriors need is for that light to fade to darkness.