The Warriors got more than just a playoff berth by winning their play-in game against Memphis on Tuesday, writes Sam Gordon of The San Francisco Chronicle. They also ensured themselves of four days of much-needed rest before their first-round series begins Sunday night at Houston. Coach Steve Kerr said the break is welcome after weeks of fighting to earn a top-six spot and avoid the play-in tournament altogether.
“We desperately needed it,” Kerr said. “I’ve never seen a schedule like what we’ve faced, particularly with the stakes. Every game was meaningful — the two-week road trip followed by a back-to-back-to-back.”
Gordon points out that Golden State is the third-oldest team in the league and has five rotation players in their 30s. A loss on Tuesday would have meant a home game Friday night against Dallas, followed by a flight to Oklahoma City for a meeting tomorrow with the West’s top-seeded team.
“Rest is one thing, but not all rest is created equal in the sense of — you have to be intentional about how you use the days,” Stephen Curry said. “That doesn’t mean you’re not doing anything. You’re priming yourself. Weight room. Mentally. Skill-wise, getting your work in. So, it just helps to not have to prepare for a game. You realize you’ve been going for … six, seven months and the last two of it were really intense so it’s nice just to take a good pause.”
There’s more on the Warriors:
- Jonathan Kuminga has enjoyed some of his best games against the Rockets, but there’s no guarantee he’ll have a role in the first-round series, Gordon adds in a separate story. Kuminga was kept on the bench for the play-in game and Sunday’s crucial season finale against the Clippers, and his playing time has been scaled back since his 31-game absence with a sprained ankle. Gordon notes that Kuminga is averaging 21.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game against Houston this season while shooting 50.8% from the field and 42.1% from three-point range. “He’ll contribute,” Draymond Green said. “He’s great. He’s getting his work in. That’s all you can do in that situation is get your work in. And he’ll be meaningful for us in this series. I have zero doubt about that. The challenge for him is to stay mentally engaged, as it is for anyone in that situation, but I have zero doubt in my mind that he’s going to help us in this series.”
- Moses Moody worked his way into a valuable defensive role by embracing assistant coach Jerry Stackhouse‘s philosophy of attacking opposing ball-handlers, according to Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. It’s a change from Moody’s first three NBA seasons when his playing time was limited because he was viewed as a defensive liability.
- In an interview with Mark Medina of Sportskeeda, Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. talks about how the team has changed since the Jimmy Butler trade, Green’s case for Defensive Player of the Year honors, and a few other topics.