Steve Kerr dismisses Steph Curry's reduced minutes on Warriors as reason for Golden State's 4th quarter woes
Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr made an interesting decision when he started the fourth quarter without Steph Curry in Sunday's loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Warriors held a two-point lead (81-78) over their foes which quickly evaporated with Steph on the bench.
The two-time league MVP eventually got back on the court with under seven minutes left with his team trailing 89-97 but he wouldn't be much of a factor. In the almost seven minutes that he played in the fourth, he went 2-for-6 from the field.
However, Steve Kerr told reporters that he believes relying on Steph Curry every game shouldn't be the Warriors' tactic, especially due to the talent that is on the Warriors' roster.
"We've got Chris Paul out there, We've got Klay [Thompson]. We've got Draymond [Green]," Kerr was quoted saying. "We've got great players out there. We can't expect to just ride Steph game after game after game."
The tactic of deferring from playing Steph and relying on the Warriors' other stars in the fourth did not work out against the Wolves as evidenced by their stats.
Draymond Green and Chris Paul did not seem aggressive enough, both making only one field goal each with Green going 1-for-1 and CP3 going 1-2. In fact, in the entire fourth quarter, the only two Warriors players who made more than one field goal were Steph and Klay Thompson who made two each. Klay went 2-for-7, with all of his attempts coming from beyond the arc.
Also read: Skip Bayless points finger at Steph Curry and aging Warriors for lack of explosive amid rough patch
Steph Curry and the Warriors only have 12 games remaining to salvage the season
It is crazy to think that the Golden State Warriors were the 2022 champions based on how they've performed this season with mostly the same core. They have lost some players and those that have remained have aged but their fall from grace could still feel unlikely to their fans.
They still have a chance to make the postseason thanks to the NBA's Play-in tournament but the surging Houston Rockets are very close behind them. The Warriors are 36-34 and are coming off two straight losses while the Rockets are 35-35 and have won eight straight.
With a narrow one-game lead in the standings, the Warriors will need to play their best basketball of this season yet to hold off the Rockets and make the Play-in, let alone the NBA playoffs, and Steph Curry will need to play a huge role in that.
Steph is the leading scorer on the Warriors and has arguably been the only consistent player on the team. Whether they like it or not, Golden State's best chance of making it past the 2023-24 regular season is by leaning heavily on Steph Curry