Stephen Curry made his illustrious return from injury Thursday night. In a loss, how did the former NBA MVP look? We explore.
One of the most anticipated games of this week centered around Stephen Curry returning to the basketball floor against the Toronto Raptors Thursday night. Even with the Golden State Warriors struggling with nothing to play for, Steph couldn’t hold back as his love for the game was what made him come back to play again this season.
Prior to the game, it was announced that Curry would play no longer than 24 minutes in his first game back. But it was obvious that the fans around the world wanted to see him play longer than that. Luckily, Curry was able to be on the floor during key stretches of the game despite the minute’s restriction and be a leader for his teammates while doing so.
To begin the game, Steph started out trying to get his groove back on the floor. After missing so much time, it was obvious that Curry was a tad bit winded after running up and down the floor several times. With him trying to get back into the groove of things on the court, it resulted in a very slow start to the first quarter for the three-time champion.
As the second quarter started and he checked back into the game, Curry began to make an impact on the floor in a positive way. He was dishing the ball to open teammates and he eventually got his first basket off of an and-1 shot off the glass.
Toronto started to extend the lead a tad by going up 14 points. But with Curry leading the younger guys on the court, they crawled themselves back in the game. Curry would hit two 3-pointers from each wing to make a run late in the second and Golden State would crawl much closer to end the half trailing 62-55.
The fans at Chase center were loving the energy Steph was bringing. He knows how to get the crowd going with his shot creation and making flashy passes to his teammates. Steph finished the half with 11 points and had much more to display in the game.
Starting the second half, Steph got even more comfortable. His shots started to fall more frequently and his teammates brought him much energy by playing hard on both ends.
Curry’s impact on the floor was even more important in the fourth. From dishing out to Andrew Wiggins to open 3-pointers and more successful flashy behind the back passes, the Warriors found themselves in a game late in the fourth and competed until the very end.
Unfortunately, with stellar play from Kyle Lowry, Norman Powell, and others, the Raptors were able to hold off the Warriors and secure the win at Chase Center 121-113.
Curry finished the game with 23 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists in 27 minutes of action. He may have had a difficult time trying to adjust to playing on the court again, but his greatness was able to help him find a groove and he slowly showed signs of his old self late in the second half.
Although the Warriors aren’t playing for anything, it’s great to see Curry out playing and trying to help the young guys on the floor. For the guys to have a champion on the floor with them guiding them on every possession, it helps big as they can possibly finish more games strongly in the near future.
With a fully healthy Curry along with Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, expect the Warriors to be back in full effect next season. They’ve had all year to rest and take time off. They will be ready next season to make a run at a championship once again.