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SAN FRANCISCO — Stephen Curry played NBA basketball Thursday night for the first time in 127 days. It was glorious.
He finished with 23 points, seven rebounds and seven assists while shooting 6-of-16 from the field and 3-of-12 on threes during the 121-113 loss to the Toronto Raptors in a rematch of the 2019 Finals. His start was understandably rusty. Curry didn’t score in the first quarter on only two field-goal attempts while shadowed by an array of Raptors.
Eventually, the two-time MVP found his sea legs and started to heat up with a few plays only he could make:
He brought the joy back:
Curry’s presence in the lineup unsurprisingly lifted the level of play of everyone around him.