Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr talked about managing Stephen Curry’s minutes in the fourth quarter in a narrow loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
A disappointing season for the Golden State Warriors continues, as Steve Kerr, Stephen Curry, and company fell against the Minnesota Timberwolves with a narrow score of 114-110 in their second loss in a row.
Curry, who is the team’s main star and one of the most prolific shooters in NBA history, sat out the majority of the fourth quarter, which garnered the attention of journalists and fans alike.
Steve Kerr explained his decision to bench the iconic guard in his remarks to Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
“We are trying to keep him around 30, trying to get him as much rest as we can. He played for 35 minutes two days ago… We wanted to limit the minutes a little bit, not limit them but not overplay [him],” explained Kerr.
He was also directed a question about his particular decision not to play Curry at all in the fourth quarter and whether this decision contributed to the loss at all.
“No,” Kerr stated right out of the gate. “We got Chris Paul out there. We got Klay [Thompson]. We got Draymond [Green]. We got great players out there. So, we can’t expect to just ride Steph game after game after game…” he said.
“These last few weeks have been really tough on him. We’ve [placed] the burden of this franchise on his shoulders for fifteen years,” Kerr said with a slight laugh. “We can’t expect him to play 35 minutes.”
We got 5 games in 7 days of road trip. If you want to say (Steph Curry) playing 30 or 32 minutes was the difference in a win or a loss, I totally disagree. We are trying to win the game; we’re trying to keep him fresh, too,” he concluded.
The loss against the Timberwolves caused the Warriors’ record to regress to 36-34. Curry’s 31 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists were not enough to bring his team the victory.
