Warriors Make Incredible Steph Curry Era History in Pacers Win

The Golden State Warriors have gone 92-154 in the Steph Curry era when the sharpshooter has been sidelined. Entering Sunday’s contest against the Indiana Pacers, they were 1-9 in their previous 10 games without Curry, not having won a game since a victory over the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2024-25 season.

In a surprising turn of events, the Curry-less Warriors blew out the Pacers, 114-83, to snap their two-game losing streak and improve to 6-5 in the 2025-26 season. As a result, they created an incredible piece of history, 

“The Warriors’ 31-point win vs. the Pacers (114-83) is the team’s largest victory in a game without Steph Curry since he entered the NBA in 2009-10,” read the X account.

Warriors Bolstered By Butler Return

Although Steph Curry (illness) sat out a third consecutive game, the Warriors received a significant shot in the arm over the weekend in the form of Jimmy Butler III’s return. The veteran swingman missed two games last week due to lower back spasms and looked sluggish in his return during a 

In Sunday’s game, Butler proved why the Warriors paid a premium to acquire him at last season’s trade deadline. The 36-year-old posted 21 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, two steals and a block, while finishing a +19 on the floor.

With Curry expected back for Tuesday’s blockbuster clash against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the reigning NBA champions, the Warriors will be whole for the first time in the 2025-26 season, after earlier injuries to Moses Moody and Butler.

Warriors Finally Getting Healthy

Another positive piece of news coming out of Sunday’s win is Al Horford’s production of 12 points, four rebounds and three blocks in just 18 minutes of action. The NBA champion has been unable to play back-to-back games, and his production hasn’t been nearly as good as it was in his last two seasons with the 

NBC Sports Bay Area’s Dalton Johnson explained why Horford’s performance was a huge plus for the Warriors in the win over the Pacers.

“Al Horford had his best game with the Warriors,” wrote the Warriors beat writer. “The 39-year-old center hadn’t made a three in the first week-plus of November, going 0 of 7 in his last game and 0 of 2 in the Warriors’ loss to the Pacers to open the month. Sunday night against the same team, Horford finally found a rhythm.

“He missed his first attempt but made his final four of five, scoring 12 points – all threes – in 18 minutes off the bench. Horford also had four rebounds and blocked three shots.”

Broncos final opponents of 2025 season looking worse and worse by the week

The 2025 season has taken plenty of different turns and twists for the Denver Broncos. Seemingly, the season has at least one more twist left in it based on the final few games of the 

Broncos' schedule. A part of their 17-game slate that once seemed to be a difficult stretch doesn't appear to be anymore.

The Broncos just finished the easiest stretch of their season on a seven-game winning streak, but many have cautioned that the schedule picks up after their 

Thursday Night Football matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders. That remains true for their upcoming matchup with the Chiefs, but might be changing with their final few games. Specifically, Denver's games from Weeks 13-16 seem much different than they did just a few weeks ago. Thankfully, they seem easier than once thought.

Roughly a month into the season, the Commanders, Packers, and Jaguars all appeared to be legitimate top-flight teams, with the NFC teams being playoff teams from 2024. As for Jacksonville, they appeared to be the young, upstart team of the season. With 

Week 10 winding down, none of these teams looks as strong as they did just half of the season ago.

The final stretch of Denver's schedule is much softer than initially thought

Denver will head to the nation's capital in Week 13 for Sunday Night Football, but might see a very different Commanders team from what many thought they would see. Star quarterback Jayden Daniels has been bitten by the injury bug for the majority of the 2025 season. In his on-and-off absence, the Commanders have lost five games in a row and are free-falling out of the NFC playoff race. Both teams have the Week 12 bye, which will give both a chance to heal and get healthy.

Denver will host the Packers in Week 15, and Green Bay has some issues to work out before then. Green Bay is a comfortable 5-2-1 heading into Monday Night Football, but they are fresh off a rough loss to the Panthers, barely beat a bad Cardinals team in Week 6, and they have been inconsistent overall. Some weeks, the Packers appear to be title contenders; others, it's a collection of talent that isn't very meshed. If the Broncos can limit their rushing attack and put the game on Jordan Love's arm, they'll have a good chance.

As for the Jaguars, the sky is currently falling. Jacksonville blew a substantial lead to the Texans on Sunday in Houston, making them losers of three of their last four. Once seemingly the Cinderella of the 2025 season, the Jaguars might be under .500 when they arrive in Denver in Week 16.

 

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