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SAN FRANCISCO — It took nearly 20 minutes of game action to show up, full bore, but Stephen Curry’s magic returned to the court Thursday.
It was a desperation heave at the end of the shot clock — a flailing 30-foot 3-pointer that somehow found the bottom of the net — brought all of Chase Center out of their seats.
Before that basket, Curry’s return to the court after a 58-game absence had been inauspicious — at least by his lofty, eminently entertaining standards.
A couple makes, a couple of misses. A few nice passes, but a turnover and some miscommunications, too.
He was rusty to start. That was to be expected. He missed a bunch of time.
But after that shot, he was absolutely tremendous, finishing the game with 23 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists, albeit in a spirited but losing effort — Golden State lost to Toronto 121-113.
The tight handle was there. The vision was there. The verve was there. The energy that Curry can’t help but bring to the court and the arena, on the whole, was there.
Yes, that long, improbable make was more than a turning point for Curry’s game Thursday. No, it was also the moment where one of the great relationships in all of sports — the one between Curry and a home Warriors’ crowd — was rekindled.
Oh, how the Warriors fans missed Curry. Chase Center was loud Thursday — as loud as it has been all season. There were chants of M-V-P and a spontaneous and full-throated yell of “Warrrrrrriors” at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
But it was evident that Curry missed the Warriors fans, too.
“I’m happy to be back in my happy place, for sure,” Curry said.
Remember, Curry had only played 51 minutes of regular-season basketball in Chase Center before he and the worst team in the NBA took on the Raptors.
So while it was a return, it was also, in a way, another debut for Curry. Not new, but not broken in — there was still a strangeness, a peculiarity, to No. 30 playing in the arena he effectively built.
After the morning shootaround before the game against the Raptors at the new arena, Curry held court with the media, but he needed to be reminded of the new protocols for scrums. Back in Oakland, there was a microphone on a small table in the practice facility. In San Francisco, where space is at a premium even the Warriors can’t afford, the interviewee holds a microphone.
Just another little thing for the Warriors’ star to figure out.
Next on that list: his new teammates.
After one game, it’s still, unsurprisingly, a work in progress.
Curry didn’t return to play with Draymond Green — he’s out with a knee injury. Klay Thompson won’t play for the Warriors until next fall. His backcourt partner to start the season — D’Angelo Russell — was traded weeks ago. Even Kevon Looney was sidelined.
Amid a starting lineup where three players were on a two-way or a 10-day contract as recently as this season, Curry opened Thursday’s game as a willing passer. It was hardly surprising — the Raptors defense had all eyes on him from the opening tip.
But Curry made sure those passes had some razzle-dazzle, though. He tried so many behind-the-back left-handed passes Thursday, I lost count. Curry claimed after the game that he was not making a conscious effort to pass with his left hand, but it’s hard to believe that he wasn’t out to prove that he was back to 100 percent. But each pass was a reminder of what makes him special: even on the rare occasion his shot isn’t falling, Curry makes a big impact on the game — he’s still entertaining.
Remember when professional entertainers wanted to entertain?
Novel concept.
On the shooting front, Curry missed his first four 3-pointers Thursday, but then he started to look like the greatest shooter of all time once again after the flailing 3.
It’ll take a while for everything to congeal with Curry and these Baby Dubs. That’s if it ever congeals.
The Warriors are hoping that the final weeks of the season will be a springboard for next season, that Curry can create momentum for another title run.
But Thursday’s contest highlighted the reality of the situation: these games down the stretch are more a tryout for the Warriors’ young players.
Yes, Curry will need to figure out how to play with his new teammates, they will need to figure out how to play with him, too.
Despite it being Curry’s first game back in months, he was playing faster than his teammates Thursday. Curry’s trademark constant kinetic play found him open pockets against the Toronto defense time and time again. Yes, his patented reset shot. Friday’s film session could easily be filled by all the times Curry’s teammates didn’t see him in the corner, wide open (by Curry’s standards).
Still, the positive affect Curry had on the Warriors’ play was unmistakable. His “gravity”, aka his innate, unparalleled ability to bend a defense in his direction, is not a myth — it’s real and was in full effect, despite his slow start Thursday. Even without his shot but certainly, after it arrived, Curry created wide-open shots and cutting lanes for his teammates on nearly every possession. The Warriors — who have been offensively and particularly 3-point challenged with Curry out of the lineup — attempted a franchise-record 52 shots from distance tonight.
Sure, the Dubs only made 14, with Curry making three, but that getting up that many shots — few of them tightly contested — cannot be a coincidence.
It seems so obvious that it might be ridiculous to note, but Curry being on the court, even for only 27 minutes Thursday, made his teammates better.
Now imagine what happens when these new faces in new places start to become familiar to the Baby Faced Assassin.
