Stephen Curry’s absence just cost the Warriors something beyond wins and losses. The team already lost badly to the Spurs without him, and now Golden State has lost a national television appearance too. Curry is expected to miss close to a month, and the fallout is already spreading past the standings, with their game being taken off broadcast.
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ESPN has reportedly chosen not to broadcast the Warriors vs. Mavericks game, opting instead to air Nuggets vs. Celtics on November 18, 2026, according to Dallas Morning News writer Mike Curtis.
“The NBA just announced that Wednesday’s game between the #Mavs and #Warriors will no longer be televised by ESPN. The game time has also been changed to 7 p.m. CT,” the X post read. “ESPN will broadcast Celtics-Nuggets instead.”
This moves the game 90 minutes earlier than originally planned. Having star players on the team clearly makes the difference, considering the fact that the Nuggets will now get the spotlight instead.
Nikola Jokic is currently averaging 23.7 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 9.1 assists per game so far in the season. The Nuggets hold a 7-4 record, having won against the Pelicans recently with a 116-108 score.
The team’s win-loss ratio isn’t drastically different from the Warriors’ 8-5 record so far. The difference? Star power. Stephen Curry is one of the biggest draws in the NBA. People flock to stadiums to watch their favorite team, yes. But more so, to watch him casually score 30+ points in a regular-season game.
In his absence, cracks are visible in the team’s performance. The last time he played was against the Rockets. He stayed on the floor for about 6 minutes, scored three points, and exited after experiencing pain. He was later diagnosed with a right abdominal tear.
“I’ll watch the tape, but just felt like we had too many disorganized possessions in the second half where we weren’t creating any advantages,” head coach Steve Kerr said after the team lost 115-108. “Without Steph, we have to be organized in our concepts and with our spacing so that we can attack and create shots for each other.”
Curry was one of the team’s primary scorers alongside rookie Yaxel Lendeborg, who has gone toe-to-toe with the legend in terms of scoring baskets. After Curry’s exit, he said that he was a 6 out of 10 in terms of confidence without the icon on the floor.
Against the Rockets, Lendeborg scored a decent 25 points. However, against the Spurs, he was only able to get three points despite spending 24 minutes on the floor. His shooting rate was abysmal at 1-for-13 from the field and 0-for-2 from the 3 PT line.
In fact, not a single player from the Warriors’ lineup had a double-digit contribution except for LJ Cryer, who scored 20, and Charles Bassey, who scored 11 points. It was a lopsided game, and Curry’s absence had seemingly had ripple effects that affected the whole roster in some way.
After the game, Lendeborg admitted to being flustered the whole game. The player expressed guilt over not being able to complete simple layups and essentially letting the team down.
“It was an awful performance by me,” he said. “I let everybody on this team down. … I’m not going to forget this ever. I don’t remember the last time I got beat by 70.”
Lendeborg felt hopeless the whole game. However, it’s just one bad game, and certainly, it’s too soon to rule the team out. Their game against the Mavericks will likely give fans a better picture.