Steph Curry and Warriors are back to being the Warriors

The NBA playoffs the past few years have been fine but they’ve also been missing a few things – one of the best, most exciting players to ever play the game and a franchise that has become a staple in the postseason and has enjoyed playing the role of villain at times.

I’m talking, of course, about Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors.

The NBA playoffs are just better when Steph Curry is out there being Steph Curry. The NBA playoffs are just better when Draymond Green and Klay Thompson are out there doing their things alongside Curry.

Now all three players are back together on a stage they know so well, and after Wednesday’s win over the Denver Nuggets, they are advancing to the second round and a matchup with Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies, who rallied to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 114- 106 Friday to win the series in six games. How good will this series be?

Before Wednesday’s victory, Steph, Draymond and Klay hadn’t won a playoff series since the 2019 postseason when they went to the Finals and lost to the Toronto Raptors. That’s also when they lost Klay to a knee injury that kept him out for a season ( another injury kept him out for last season). Shortly after those Finals they also lost Kevin Durant, who left as a free agent to join the Brooklyn Nets.

Curry returned to the starting lineup Wednesday for the first time since he went down with a foot injury late in the regular season and finished with 30 points, including a series- clinching layup in the final minute that had the Chase Center going nuts.

As a basketball fan, this is what you want to see, even if you’re not rooting for the Warriors. We’re lucky to be able to witness Curry doing Curry things again in huge games. We’re lucky to have this

storyline back on this big stage. It’s been too long and we should be grateful for the opportunity to be able to take in these moments.

It’s crazy to think that we haven’t seen the Warriors doing this since back in 2019. So much has happened since their last playoff series win when they beat the Portland Trail Blazers in the Western Conference finals. Remember how that series was all about Steph Curry versus Seth Curry? Man, that feels like ages ago!

Now we get Curry and Co. versus Ja Morant and Co.? Talk about must- see TV right there.

Steph Curry is back. Draymond Green is back. Klay Thompson is back. And the Warriors are back.

And it all feels pretty, pretty, pretty good.

CARLOS AVILA GONZALEZ/ AP Steph Curry makes a sleeping gesture late in the second half of the Warriors’ win against the Nuggets.