Stephen Curry said he was back in his "happy place" as he made up for lost time on his long-awaited Golden State Warriors return in a defeat to the Toronto Raptors on Thursday.
The two-time NBA MVP had been sidelined since suffering a broken left hand during a clash with the Phoenix Suns last October.
Curry scored 23 points in his first match for just over four months but was unable to prevent the Warriors from slumping to a 121-113 loss against the defending champions at Chase Center.
The superstar guard was just pleased to be back on court following such a lengthy absence in a season to forget for injury-hit Golden State.
Asked how he coped with being out for so long, Curry replied: "You kind of deal with the new reality as it comes.
"Coming into the season, obviously four games in I was excited about trying to help lead the team where we wanted to go, chase the playoffs and all that but it was taken away.
"You've got to be productive in all aspects while you are out, with the rehab and the opportunity to appreciate life outside of basketball as well. I'm happy to be back in my happy place, for sure, but a lot of good happened over these last four months."
you can foul him
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) March 6, 2020
but you can't stop him
@NBAonTNT pic.twitter.com/Wz2UVdc8Ow
Curry said he felt comfortable as he hit the ground running, having not known quite what to expect in his comeback.
"It felt great, it was a lot of energy, anticipation for tonight and just getting back out there on the floor and seeing what was going to happen." said the three-time NBA champion.
"It was kind of a cool moment, just the excitement and energy in the building and I didn't really know what to expect, how to handle the minute restriction and all that, I just tried to get my first shot and just get comfortable out there.
"But throughout the 27 minutes I felt good, so I'm excited to be back out there.
"We had some good moments, obviously Toronto is a championship team that has a lot of chemistry and they know how to win, so for us it was a good step in the right direction. Everybody just competing and we can build off of this."