Stephen Curry returned to the floor for the first time since Oct. 30 on Thursday, and at times, it was as if he never left. It was only fitting that a Golden State Warriors team that is at least partially responsible for the league’s declining television ratings happened to be facing the Toronto Raptors in an NBA Finals rematch in front of a national audience. After forcing fans to watch months and months of contested Eric Paschall jumpers, viewers were finally treated to the sort of back-and-forth battle Curry’s Warriors usually produce. 

The Warriors may have lost the battle, 121-113, but they certainly won the war. Curry’s numbers may look a bit underwhelming, but he was his typical superstar self on the whole against the Raptors. That, more than anything, is the key takeaway from Thursday’s loss. Here are the others from the most exciting Warriors game of the season to date. 

Steph is fine, and any long-term damage will be minimal

Hand injuries, even to an off-hand, are extremely dangerous for shooters. Even slight discomfort can alter a shooter’s mechanics, and Curry’s are as precise as anyone’s. When he went down, there was legitimate fear over his ability to return to full strength. Thursday should have pacified such fears. 

The numbers weren’t great by Curry standards. He’ll improve beyond 3-for-12 from behind the arc, and he’ll usually take more 2-pointers than that. But Curry didn’t exactly shy away from contact. 

The degree of difficulty on some of his shots was just as high as ever, and there were no visible hiccups in his mechanics. 

It usually takes players time to regain their typical playing style after a serious injury. It can take weeks or months for them to look like their old selves. The numbers weren’t quite there, but stylistically speaking at least, Stephen Curry looked like Stephen Curry on Thursday. He took the same kinds of shots, attempted the same kinds of passes and moved in the same patterns within the system as he did before going down. 

While Golden State still has plenty of other long-term question marks, the Curry case appears to be closed. The Warriors will have their best player at something resembling his usual value next season as they attempt to re-enter the championship picture. 

Curry’s gravity will help prove which young players really belong

With the goal of winning next season clearly established, Curry’s return matters only in that it gives the Warriors a meaningful opportunity to evaluate its players alongside their true leader. Most of this season’s roster will be out of the rotation or off of the team next year, but the last month and change of this season gives everyone still in place a chance to prove how they’ll fit with Curry. 

The early returns were promising. Three of the four players to start alongside Curry on Thursday scored 17 points, and if Marquese Chriss scoring 17 points was a regular occurrence, the Warriors probably wouldn’t have the worst record in the NBA. Damion Lee making five 3-pointers was impressive, but even more so was his willingness to attempt 12 of them. Not only is that a career-high, but it is only the second time in his career that he has even reached double-digits. He was comfortable shooting that often because Curry ensured the looks were good. 

That is the Curry effect. He creates open shots and lanes for everyone else on his team merely by presence. He warps defenses to a degree unmatched in NBA history, and the young players who take advantage of that down the stretch are going to be the ones who get the chance to do so next season. Of course, the young player likeliest to make a major impact on next year’s team isn’t even on the roster yet. Which brings us to…

Golden State’s lottery odds are still safe… for now

The Warriors came reasonably close to toppling the 44-18 Toronto Raptors, an impressive feat even with Fred VanVleet and Marc Gasol injured. Curry changes the entire complexion of Golden State’s immediate future. They were the worst team in the NBA without him. With him? They just proved that they are at least a competent one, if not more. 

Fortunately for their future, they were so miserable during his absence that, for the time being, they don’t need to worry about their lottery odds. At 14-49, they still trail the NBA’s second-worst team (the Atlanta Hawks) by 3.5 games in the standings. They also have the NBA’s sixth-hardest schedule down the stretch, whereas Atlanta has its second-easiest remaining slate. Barring something unforeseen, The Warriors will be guaranteed a draft pick in the top five, and will have a 14 percent chance at earning the top selection. 

But Curry’s presence complicates matters in that is among the highest variance superstars in basketball. While he doesn’t provide the guaranteed scoring load that a physically bigger star like LeBron James would, all it would take for the Warriors to lose ground in the lottery would be a few explosive games. Imagine Curry gets hot for two weeks and leads the Warriors to something like a 5-2 record over such a span. At the top of the standings, that kind of run might not mean much. But at the bottom, where the teams Golden State is contending with are always a threat to go winless in the same span? It could be devastating. The Warriors were a lock for the best lottery odds as recently as 24 hours ago. Now? There’s a slight window for a team like Atlanta or Minnesota to jump them.