Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry was a “little bit surprised” with coach Steve Kerr’s decision to rest for an extended time which the Minnesota Timberwolves took advantage of in seizing a come-from-behind 114-110 win on March 24.
“Obviously, you’re comparing it to the last game and my normal rotation like I want to play as many minutes as I’m fresh and able to, so a little bit [surprised] knowing that [Timberwolves] were just going on the run,” Curry told reporters after dropping their second straight loss.
Curry played the whole fourth quarter in their last game, but the Warriors still lost 123-111 to the Indiana Pacers on March 22. This time, Curry just logged 30 minutes as he sat the final 4:07 of the third quarter and the first 5:06 of the fourth quarter.
Finding the Middle Ground
Curry agonizingly watched from the bench as the Timberwolves wiped a Warriors’ four-point lead and built an eight-point edge by the time Kerr re-inserted him into the game.
“So you know, I played the whole fourth quarter against Indiana, it didn’t work out. This didn’t work out. So we gotta find somewhere in the middle,” Curry told reporters.
But they need to find that middle ground as quickly as possible as the loss cut their lead for the 10th place in the West to just one game with the streaking Houston Rockets (35-35) coming for them.
“The situation will define itself pretty clearly and it is kind of real-time,” Curry added. “So every game matters. We’re inching closer to the other end of the standings that we never thought we’d be.”
After an encouraging February where they won 11 of 14 games, they are mired at a 5-7 slump this month with only a dozen games left in their regular-season schedule.
Their next two games are against playoff-contending teams from the East — Miami Heat (March 26) and Orlando Magic (March 27) — on back-to-back sets on the road.
Steph Curry Disagrees with Steve Kerr
Kerr stood by his contentious choice and denied that it was the reason for their most recent defeat.
Following the defeat, Kerr said to reporters, “We can’t expect to just ride Steph game after game after game.” For him, the past few weeks have been quite difficult. He has been carrying the weight of this franchise for the past fifteen years. He cannot play for thirty-five minutes. We’re on a road trip with five games in seven days. I completely disagree with your assertion that his playing 30 minutes as opposed to 32 was the difference between the win and the loss. Our goal is to prevail in the match. Our goal is to keep him engaged.
Curry disagrees with Kerr this time with their postseason berth on the line. There is no sense in keeping Curry fresh if they don’t make it in the play-in.
Curry told reporters, “So nobody’s going to wave the white flag and say you’re mailing it in. If that means playing more minutes, I’ll be ready to do that.”
In their most difficult season under Kerr, the superstar of the Warriors still thinks they have one more run in them to prevent their dynasty from fully collapsing.
Curry remarked, “NBA is such a weird league.” “All it takes to get going is a tiny spark.” It happens to every club this season. Look at what Houston is doing at the moment. Eight shots in a succession were fired after they received a single little spark. Thus, we are able to accomplish it. That’s our way of thinking till the games run out.
