Stephen Curry is back for the Golden State Warriors after missing most of the season due to his hand injury. However, ESPN is still planning to drop multiple Golden State games from its schedule.

NBA TV ratings are down this season and many league officials believe the absence of Curry is one reason why.

The NBA gave the Warriors a bunch of national TV games because the prevailing thought was fans around the world wanted to see Curry play in the new era for the Dubs. The two surgeries Curry underwent kept him out longer than people initially expected.

Steph made his return to the court last week against the Toronto Raptors. The two-time MVP and three-time champion finished with 23 points in 27 minutes of action while shooting 6-of-16 from the field, 3-of-12 from beyond the arc and a perfect 8-of-8 from the free-throw line.

After Thursday’s performance, Curry is now averaging 20.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 6.6 assists on the season. He still hasn’t missed from the free-throw line, but his 3-point percentage is at 24.5. Expect that percentage to rise, though, as the season moves along.

Despite the Warriors’ loss to the Raptors, it was still great to see Curry back out there in his element and putting on a show for the Chase Center crowd.

Even though the Dubs are going to miss the playoffs this season for the first time in the Steve Kerr era, the rest of the season is not totally pointless, as the Warriors want to see Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green develop some on-court chemistry heading into a critical summer.