SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry announced his return to the lineup on Friday night long before the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves even started.

As is his custom prior to home games at Chase Center, Curry lined up from the end of the tunnel the Warriors exit out of and started heaving shots to the basket on the opposite end. The shot itself measures around 100 feet. Curry handed the ball to a nearby security guard so that he could get a pass for the shot attempt. After taking a short pass from the guard, Curry took a couple dribbles to gather his momentum and then launched an attempt from the carpet that leads to the court. The ball hovered in the air for a couple seconds, traveling underneath the scoreboard on the way to the rim.

He raced off the floor in celebration with his arms at his side like an airplane as the guard who made the pass, and the fans standing around the tunnel watching, cheered in disbelief. An hour or so later, the four-time NBA champion made his return to a game after missing five straight because of a left quad injury and looked like his old self. The 37-year-old scored 39 points, dished out five assists and grabbed five rebounds in 32 minutes in a 127-120 loss to the Timberwolves.

“I felt pretty good to start and normal like middle of the game trying to get your second wind,” Curry said. “And then once you started to get into the rhythm of the game, things started to feel normal again. Individually, it was a good first game back just to get my lungs back and feel like myself.”

Curry went 14-for-28 from the field and looked refreshed and energized in his return. It was his eighth game of the season where he scored at least 30 points, but it wasn’t enough for a Warriors team playing without veteran defensive stalwart Draymond Green, who remains out because of a team-excused absence, and Al Horford (sciatica).

The Warriors have played solid defense throughout much of the season, but Timberwolves big men Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert overwhelmed the group throughout the night, as they picked up the offensive slack without Anthony Edwards, who was out because of right foot soreness. The pair combined for 51 points and 23 rebounds.

“I thought our defense let us down tonight,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “We had several plays in transition, in both halves, where we lost sight of Naz Reid and a couple of their shooters. I just thought our transition defense was poor.”

Kerr said before Friday’s game that Green would rejoin the team in Portland, but the decision as to whether Green plays will be made by the Warriors’ training staff given the fact that the forward has missed almost a week and a half with a lingering foot injury.

The good news for the Warriors is that Curry, and the magic that he brings to the floor, is back. Kerr said he asked the star guard how he was feeling after the first eight minutes of Friday’s game and Kerr told him “I feel great.”

The issue for the Warriors is the same as it has been all season, even when Curry has been on the floor. They continue to struggle to find the consistency they need to go on an elongated winning streak.

The Warriors also continued a troubling, season-long trend on Friday by dropping a game to a team playing without its best player. They’ve lost to the Milwaukee Bucks without Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Houston Rockets without Kevin Durant, the Orlando Magic with Paolo Banchero, and now the Timberwolves without Edwards just to name a few.

The Warriors have to hope that with a lot of home games on the horizon over the next month and a half, they can string together the types of performances they need. Curry did his part on Friday, as he has many times already this season when he’s been healthy enough to play, and it still wasn’t enough. That fact may be even more of a red flag than the Warriors 13-13 record heading into Sunday’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers. If the Warriors want to find a higher level of play, they’ve got to do more to support their best player each night.

Curry provided the highlight of the night when he hit the 100 foot pregame shot, but that wasn’t what he was hoping to take away from his return. After he finished up his postgame remarks to reporters, Curry was asked what it was like to hit the 100-foot shot before the game.

“That’s the second one I made,” he said. “I thought it was going to be a better night.”