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Yesterday we served you a platter of vintage Stephen Curry highlights to celebrate his return to the Warriors lineup after missing 58 games with a broken left hand.
He didn’t disappoint, scoring 23 points, seven assists and six rebounds in 27:14 of playing time. He bottomed three 3-pointers (in 12 attempts — hey, the guy needs something to improve on).
He also brought his infectious joy and left fans with more than enough highlight fodder to fill the long drive home. Here is one observer’s top 5 Steph moments Thursday night:
1: Less than three minutes in, Curry is pinned to the sideline by four Raptors. He takes a couple short steps toward the free throw line and zips a behind-the-back pass (left-handed, no less) to Andrew Wiggins. Sheer poetry.
2: Less than six minutes off the clock, Curry drives to the free line and floats a lob that Marquese Chriss is more than happy to slam down. The video is a little grainy at this point, but it looks as if Chriss is singing, “Happy birthday to me,” as he runs down the court.
3: Second quarter. Are you having fun yet? Pat McCaw, who inexplicably asked to be excused from the Warriors before last season (and was booed Thursday night), isn’t. Curry drives the right side of the lane, gets McCaw up on his toes, initiates contact and floats in a right-handed bank. And 1.
4: Now it’s 7:38 left in the first half and the moment everyone has been waiting for. Curry lines up a 3-pointer from the left wing and rails that puppy.
5: It’s 3:25 before the half, and the Warriors are a bit disjointed. Time is running down. Curry retreats to the hash mark and with 0.6 seconds on the clock, lets it fly. It hits nothing but the net and the floor. Klay Thompson is so jazzed, he walks around the Warriors bench, shaking his head in amazement. All is right in the world.
And 1 more: It’s early in the second half. Curry snags a defensive rebound in the Toronto key. In one smooth move, he heaves a chest pass over seven other players that nestles lovingly in the waiting arms of Wiggins who gently lays it in.
OK, 1 more, but only because you asked nicely. Still in the third quarter. There’s a battle for the ball near the Warriors basket. The ball squirts to Wiggins, who flips it to Curry at the top of the arc. As Kyle Lowry rushes towards him, Curry angles his body, right shoulder forward — just what your JV basketball coach always said NOT to do — and launches. He cans the shot and gets the foul. The 4-point play is once again alive in the Bay Area.
I can see you’re skeptical. Well I’ve got the surveillance video:
