Home Sports Five observations: Steph Curry rests, Jonathan Kuminga returns in Warriors’ win over Jazz

Five observations: Steph Curry rests, Jonathan Kuminga returns in Warriors’ win over Jazz

Alexandra Williams
-
0
Five observations: Steph Curry rests, Jonathan Kuminga returns in Warriors’ win over Jazz

[ad_1]

USATSI 22969397

SAN FRANCISCO — Here are five observations from the Golden State Warriors’ 118-110 home win over the Utah Jazz on Sunday night.

1. The choice to rest Steph

The Warriors thought about resting Steph Curry in Dallas on Friday night. But he woke up after the Houston Rockets game feeling well enough to get the Rick Celebrini green light. There was some standings motivation. The Warriors believed they had a realistic path to the eighth seed if they found a way to beat the Mavericks.

So Steve Kerr pushed the pedal down. He brought Curry back early in the fourth quarter and throttled his minutes up to 36, a range he very rarely hits in regulation anymore. Curry averages around 32 minutes, and Kerr scoffed at what he called a “national story” when he held Curry to 29 minutes, 51 seconds in a narrow loss in Minnesota last month.

But 36 in Dallas was a hint. The Warriors cranked it up with a plan to crank it all the way down. They rested Curry for Sunday’s home game against the Jazz, believing they had enough left over to handle a tanking Utah team, but also unafraid of what a home loss would mean. They are more comfortable settling into the 10th spot than overusing Curry in an attempt to nudge a tad higher.

It makes sense. It doesn’t matter their place in the Play-In bracket, the Warriors aren’t making any type of postseason noise unless they get an extended surge from Curry, who turned 36 last month and has been in a slight shooting swoon by his standards.

In his last 15 games, Curry is averaging 24 points on 44 percent shooting and 38 percent from 3. That’s fine production but isn’t the type of demolition the Warriors need from Curry to rip through the Play-In and threaten in a series.

So they opted to recharge his battery. Curry is already at 71 games played this season, his most since the 2016-17 season when he was 28 years old. Kerr said he notices Curry’s fatigue “in his movement” and “in his judgment,” which would translate to turnovers and defensive errors, along with those shooting percentages.

“It’s important to get him rest, not just for his legs but for his mind,” Kerr said. “Taking the day off today, I think was a big deal for him. He looked relaxed.”

2. Klay stars, Kuminga returns

Without Curry, a chunk of offensive usage shifted to Klay Thompson. He’s been one of the league’s best 3-point shooters since mid-February. He felt good Sunday night. He erupted for 13 first-quarter points and 25 total in the first half, slinging the Warriors into a comfortable lead they’d maintain.

Thompson finished with 32 points in 28 minutes on 23 shots. He’s 91 of 224 from 3 since the All-Star break. That’s the second-most makes and, of the three closest to him — Curry, Donte DiVincenzo and Luka Doncic — he’s the only one above 40 percent.

But the night’s larger story was Jonathan Kuminga. After missing the last six games with a bout of tendinitis in both knees, Kuminga said he finally felt comfortable enough to clear himself for a return. Kuminga had scrimmaged a few times this past week, and Kerr said he watched Kuminga go through a hard workout Saturday.

Kuminga said he finally “felt like myself” prior to Sunday’s game and he jumped like himself against the Jazz, exploding for a few dunks en route to 21 points and 10 rebounds on 9-of-11 shooting. He did it in 27 minutes, coming off the bench.

“I wasn’t concerned about coming off the bench,” Kuminga said.

Kerr is being pretty transparent with his lineup choices. He said he plans to keep starting Trayce Jackson-Davis next to Draymond Green, which means Kuminga on the bench in favor of Andrew Wiggins — a more polished individual defender and shooter — at the small forward.

Even without Wiggins, who missed a second straight game after tweaking his ankle in Houston, Kerr opted for Brandin Podziemski in place of Kuminga with the starters, citing better lineup combinations as the reason.

3. Standings watch

The Warriors’ seeding picture has clarified entering the final week. Houston’s loss in Dallas eliminated the Rockets. The Warriors can finish no lower than the 10th seed. They will be in the Play-In tournament. It is most likely they finish 10th.

Now it’s a question about whether they can climb. Here are the Warriors’ final four games: at Los Angeles Lakers, at Portland Trail Blazers, versus New Orleans Pelicans, versus Jazz. They control their own destiny for the ninth seed. If they go 4-0, which would include a win over the Lakers to clinch the tiebreaker, they’d finish ahead of the Lakers, bumping up to at least ninth.

But the seventh and eighth spots aren’t out of reach. If the Warriors go 4-0 in the final week, they’d need either the Sacramento Kings or Pelicans to lose three of their final four games (they have a head-to-head against New Orleans with the tiebreaker on the line).

  • Kings’ remaining schedule: at Oklahoma City Thunder, vs. Pelicans, vs. Phoenix Suns, vs. Blazers
  • Pelicans’ remaining schedule: at Blazers, at Kings, at Warriors, vs. Lakers
  • Lakers’ remaining schedule: vs. Warriors, at Memphis Grizzlies, at Pelicans

The cleanest path for the Warriors to get the eighth seed (in my estimation): Go 4-0 and then get two more losses from whoever loses that Pelicans at Kings game Thursday night.

4. Draymond watch

Green didn’t play the final 17 minutes against the Jazz. He subbed out in the middle of the third quarter, his normal time, and after a brief rest on the bench, Green went to the back with Celebrini holding his lower back.

Kerr said Green got his lower back checked out and was cleared to return, but Kerr opted not to go back to him in the fourth quarter, even before the game was decided. He limited Green to 21 minutes. If the Warriors’ seeding looks decided in the next few days (and even if it isn’t), look for them to find a rest day for Green.

5. Sound bite of the game

(Photo of Jonathan Kuminga: Bob Kupbens / USA Today)



[ad_2]

Source link

© Newspaper WordPress Theme by TagDiv