The Golden State Warriors have found their rhythm at the perfect moment. With the February 5 trade deadline fast approaching, they’ve won 7 of their last 10 games, looking significantly sharper on both ends of the floor. Role players are stepping up, De’Anthony Melton has emerged as a legitimate secondary scoring threat, and the team is finally stringing together meaningful wins.
Golden State Warriors v Los Angeles Clippers
Yet there’s a quiet concern bubbling beneath the surface: Stephen Curry — the undisputed superstar and engine of this franchise — has experienced a noticeable dip in production over this very same stretch.
Curry’s Early-Season Dominance vs. Recent Downtick
In the first 23 games of the 2025-26 season, Curry was playing some of the best basketball of his later career:
28.9 points4.1 rebounds4.3 assists38.9% from three
Ironically, the Warriors were just 12-11 in those games — held back by inconsistent supporting cast performances and an inability to close out tight contests.
Fast forward to the last 10 games — the stretch where Golden State has finally started winning consistently — and Curry’s numbers have regressed slightly:
24.8 points2.9 rebounds6.5 assists37.7% from three
He’s also had two uncharacteristically low-scoring outings (against Portland and Charlotte), and he’s been dealing with a lingering quad contusion over the past couple of games.
Make no mistake: 24.8 PPG on 37.7% from deep is still elite production for almost any player in the league. For anyone else, this would be considered a strong stretch. But for Stephen Curry, and for a Warriors team fighting to climb out of the play-in tournament, it’s a level that may not be quite enough to carry them to serious contention.
The Harsh Reality: Warriors Need Curry at MVP Level to Truly Contend
The recent 7-3 run is encouraging, and credit goes to Melton, Moses Moody, Jonathan Kuminga (when engaged), and the defensive intensity under Steve Kerr. But the underlying truth remains: this team has no proven track record of sustained winning when Curry is merely “very good” rather than “historically dominant.”
The Warriors’ ceiling is still sky-high — but only if Curry returns to (or stays near) his early-season form.
If he gets back to 28+ PPG on 38–40% from three while maintaining his elite playmaking, and the team adds one more reliable tertiary scorer before the deadline (a realistic wing or secondary creator), Golden State can quickly jump from play-in hopeful to legitimate championship threat.If Curry settles into last season’s production (around 24–26 PPG with more off nights), even with the current improvement from the supporting cast, the path to a deep playoff run becomes exponentially harder in the loaded Western Conference.
The Bottom Line
The Warriors are trending in the right direction — better defense, better ball movement, more contributions from the bench. But make no mistake: their championship window remains tied directly to Stephen Curry playing at an absolute elite level for the remainder of the season.
The good news? At 37, Curry has repeatedly shown he can flip the switch when it matters most. The bad news? The margin for error in today’s NBA West is razor-thin.
With the trade deadline just weeks away, Golden State has a golden opportunity:
Add one more impactful pieceGet Curry back to peak formAnd suddenly, the Warriors can go from “fringe contender” to “team nobody wants to see in the playoffs.”
The clock is ticking. The Dubs are heating up — but they need Curry to turn from “great” back into “unstoppable” to truly contend.
Dub Nation knows the deal: when Steph is cooking at historic levels, anything is possible. Right now, they’re winning games. To win a championship? They need him to be legendary again.