Though Steph Curry missed the final shot, he made an impact on Warriors' psyche
· Yahoo Sports
These are tough times, divisive times. We could all use a little something to smile about. A dose of joy.
The joy was back at Chase Center on Sunday night. The fun was back.
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Stephen Curry was back.
After missing 27 games with a nagging knee injury, Curry returned to action with the Golden State Warriors for the first time since Jan. 30. And he reminded everyone of just what's been missing.
"You can just feel it," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "We're back in the mix. Back in the fight with Steph.
"He changes everything."
Curry was dazzling. He was a showman. He shimmied. He mugged. He fed off the crowd. He scored 29 points off the bench, hit five 3-pointers, almost won the game on the final shot in a 117-116 loss to the Houston Rockets and turned a virtually meaningless game into a must-see event.
The Warriors now have four regular-season games remaining for Curry to get the rust off and for the team to regain some chemistry before the play-in.
They don't actually have to win any of them because they can't really change their position. But, obviously, having Curry back helps the Warriors chances of winning in the play-in tournament and advancing into the playoffs.
"He makes the game easier for everybody," Kerr said.
But it's not just the competitive level that's raised. It's something just as important: the joy quotient.
Everyone at Chase was smiling: fans, ushers, team employees. That's something that has been missing during a season that has gone sideways. In recent weeks, the vibe inside the arena has been dulled, with bad basketball, little star power and no effervescent Curry.
It was different on Sunday.
"There's a different energy in the building, and there's a different confidence with our team," Kerr said. "He just infuses the whole team with confidence."
Maybe the happiest person in the building was Allison Marson. The 24-year-old from St. Paul, Minn., bought both a game ticket and an airline ticket last August, with the intent to see the player she has idolized since she was 11. She brought a sign that read: "Bucket list: 1. Fly out to meet Steph Curry, 2. That's it….since 2012." But as the date approached, she worried that Curry could still be injured. Turns out her timing was perfect.
And she wasn't the only one who traveled to see the living legend. Another fan held a sign saying he had come from Taiwan. Yet another sign said its bearer flew from the United Kingdom on his 30th birthday to see No. 30 play.
Hey, if you can afford it, why not? As we have starkly been reminded in the past two months, Curry isn't going to be around forever, so if you can make the pilgrimage to see one of the icons of American sports you should do it.
"He's one of the most beloved players in league history, Bay Area history, in any sport," Kerr said. "And I think a long absence like this reminds everybody how lucky we are to see him, to watch him, to coach him, to play with him.
"Tonight's a special night, because we're reminded of how lucky we've been. And how lucky we still are."
Emphasis on the present. Curry is still a force who can still take over a game. He's still a wildly creative entertainer. Some critics in recent weeks have complained that the Warriors need to tear down the whole team and start over. But as long as Curry wants to remain a Warrior, he will be a Warrior.
"I appreciate the fans and the reception and just the buzz that was in the arena," Curry said. "Because you know that at a certain point you won't be able to tap into that. So I'm very grateful."
Curry said he was a "nervous wreck" all day, passing the hours at home before he got to the arena. He wasn't in the starting lineup, by his own choice because he didn't want to sit for long stretches. The last time he came off the bench in a regular season game was in 2012.
With 4:54 to play in the first quarter, the Warriors called a timeout, during which they aired a video of fans with welcome back messages for Curry. When he was announced, the crowd gave him a 45-second standing ovation. And when he hit his first 3-pointer at the end of the first quarter, Chase was as loud as it has been all season.
It's rare for someone who has played in the league for 17 seasons to experience something new, but Curry did on Sunday. It was the first time he had played on the same NBA team with his brother. The last time the Currys had played together was in high school when Steph was a senior and Seth a sophomore at Charlotte Christian in North Carolina.
"That was a dream come true," Steph Curry said.
Against the team the Warriors eliminated last year in the playoffs, it came down to the final shot, with the ball in Curry's hands. He missed the shot but gave notice that he's as dangerous as ever.
The final week of the season will be a laboratory, readying the team for when the games count.
"This is preparing ourselves for it," Curry said, "… to help us win a do-or-die game. And you can feel it in the arena. It's a different vibe."
Everything's different. Because Curry is back.
And the Warriors are back in the fight.
This article originally published at Though Steph Curry missed the final shot, he made an impact on Warriors' psyche.