The Warriors are still fighting to climb the play-in standings. For weeks, every game has looked like the playoffs. Even after officially clinching a playoff bid on Sunday with Houston’s loss, it helps to keep the momentum going into the play-in by peaking at the right time.
Despite all of this, the Warriors decided to give Steph Curry a night off on Sunday.
Curry, 36, was inactive during Golden State’s home game against the Jazz. This is only the seventh game he has missed this year.
“He needed it,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “It’s the most games he’s played in a long time. This will serve him well for next week.
Kerr said the Warriors considered resting Curry against the Mavericks on the second night of a back-to-back, but the point guard said he woke up “in great shape” after Golden State’s win at Houston.
Against the Mavericks, Curry played 35 minutes — more than the 30-32 the Warriors like to keep him at — in a two-point loss.
If Klay Thompson’s corner 3 at the buzzer had fallen instead of coming up short, the Warriors would have had an even better chance of climbing the standings. In this hypothesis, it is possible that Curry faces Utah.
“So that game against Dallas, in my mind, changed things a lot,” Kerr said. “We put ourselves in a much more difficult situation to try to move up the ladder. So now it’s about refocusing and figuring out what the best path forward is for our guys.
A 5-0 finish to the season would still give the Warriors a decent chance of placing ninth or eighth. But it appears Golden State will put more emphasis on getting its best players healthy and rested for the play-in rather than everything that happens down the stretch.
This will be key as Golden State’s roster ages and deteriorates. Jonathan Kuminga, who missed the last six games with bilateral knee tendinitis, returned to the field against Utah. Andrew Wiggins, who is suffering from a sprained ankle, was ruled out for a second consecutive game. Thompson posted his highest game total since suffering a torn Achilles tendon and torn ACL – he’s only missed three games this season.
If the Warriors make the kind of deep run they think they’re capable of in the playoffs, they’ll likely need to win two sudden-death games on the road before heading to the top-seeded team’s home arena for a series exhausting. Play-in matches will likely be played on April 17 and, if applicable, April 19.
Curry is at his best when he’s fully rested, and he’ll have three full days between games by sitting out against the Jazz. He has sometimes shown signs of fatigue this year, particularly following his sprained ankle. In the month of March, Curry shot 43.7% from the field and 38.7% from deep, both well below his career averages.
New trends in officiating that have allowed more contact to go unpunished also appear to have affected Curry. During a recent five-game stretch, Curry attempted just five foul shots total, even while absorbing an abundance of contact in practice.
Curry played in 71 games this regular season – his highest total since 2016-17, when he was 28 years old.
“What Steph does is superhuman,” Kerr said. “I think his most underrated quality is his endurance, his strength and his ability to fly like he does. Absorbs all the defensive pressure that teams put on him. Everyone puts him in pick and roll to try to wear him down so he doesn’t kill them offensively. And it remains in impeccable condition.
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