“I felt great” – ‘Disciplined’ Curry makes successful return to Golden State Warriors’ lineup

Stephen Curry made a successful return from a left leg injury on Sunday against the Los Angeles Lakers, albeit without a positive on the scoreboard as the Golden State Warriors suffered a 113-105 loss.

The two-time MVP played a somewhat surprisingly high 32 minutes, having missed 11 straight games after sustaining the injury on February 4 against the Dallas Mavericks. After a slow start, Curry looked like he hadn’t missed a beat in a fourth-quarter display that should provide excitement and optimism for fans moving forward.

Stephen Curry made a promising return to the Golden State Warriors on Sunday, notching a team-high 27 points in the eight-point loss.

The 34-year-old appeared uninhibited by the leg injury, moving freely on and off the ball to rack up 20 field-goal attempts in the game. Speaking after the game, Curry was full of praise for the work he and the training staff had put in during his recovery.

"“I felt great… To play 32 (minutes), pretty intense down the stretch. I felt like I got stronger as the game goes on. That’s always a testament to our performance staff, my guys I work with, and then my discipline to just to try and approach it the right way — that I can safely play that much and that hard and still feel good. Obviously not the result we wanted.”"

The reigning Finals MVP went scoreless in the opening period as the Warriors quickly found themselves down 20 amid a Laker onslaught in the first eight minutes. After returning in the second period, Curry had eight quick points to help resurrect Golden State and have them trailing by just one at half-time.

He went scoreless again in the third-quarter with the Warriors finding themselves battling offensively, but determined to put his fingerprints on the game, Curry scored 12 points and had two assists in the first five minutes of the fourth. 19 of his 27 points would come in the final period, though it wasn’t enough to secure a rare road win.

Curry’s close to the game is a positive to take away from the contest, showcasing that he hasn’t lost anything over the month-long layoff. He’ll certainly benefit from the gametime, with his 8-for-20 overall shooting sure to take an upwards trajectory over the coming schedule.

Curry will be hoping his injury issues this season are behind him, having already missed 26 of the team’s 65 games. He and the Warriors will head to Oklahoma City for a matchup with the Thunder on Tuesday.