Steph Curry Had Kevin Durant 'Nervous' on Final Shot, Warriors Star Reacts to Return vs. Rockets

In his return from a 27-game absence due to a knee injury, Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry looked like he was never gone.

Curry dropped 29 points in Sunday's game against the Houston Rockets and almost secured the victory with a 30-foot buzzer-beater, but it rimmed out for a 117-116 loss.

STEPH MISSES GAME WINNER

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"Looked great when it left his hands," Rockets forward Kevin Durant said of Curry's attempt at a game-winner, per Anthony Slater of ESPN. "I was a little nervous seeing that ball in the air."

Rockets-Warriors Highlights

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In his first game back from his runner's knee injury, Curry offered to come off the bench to help manage his minutes. He committed a travel violation on his first possession before eventually settling into a groove.

"First run was rough," Curry said. "Second run was great."

Durant admitted that Curry coming off the bench changed the dynamic of the game after it initially looked like the Rockets were headed toward an easy win.

The two-time NBA MVP subbed in for his brother, Seth Curry, in the first quarter and called it "special" to share the floor with him in his return.

The initial plan was for Curry to play around 24 minutes in his first game back, but he finished at 29 minutes because of how well he was playing against a tough Rockets defense.

"I don't think there's a tougher defender in the league for him to have his first game against than Amen Thompson," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "That's quite a test. Steph looked amazing."

Curry told reporters that he was "grateful" to still be performing at a high level even after being on the sidelines for over two months.

Curry also showed appreciation for Durant, who had a game-high 31 points in the battle between the two legends.

Slater noted that Curry is likely to play in three out of the four remaining regular-season games for the Warriors (36-42) to ensure that he's ready for the play-in tournament next week. Golden State is almost assured to finish as the 10th seed and will have to win two games to earn a spot in the playoffs.

"You can just feel it," Kerr said. "We're back in the mix. We're back in the fight with Steph. … It doesn't take much for him to find his rhythm. His rhythm is also our rhythm. … He changes everything."