It was almost the worst loss of the season, but the Warriors held on in San Antonio.
Playing against an extremely shorthanded Spurs team sitting four starters, Golden State eked out a 100-94 win in the penultimate game of the season.
The Warriors didn’t shoot well (40.7%), were inconsistent on defense and didn’t move the ball crisply, but still put forth enough effort against a Spurs team that considered this a scheduled loss. Up 19 at one point and almost never trailing, the Warriors coasted in this game until nearly fumbling it away in the final few minutes.
Jordan Poole had his worst game in over a month (3-of-19) from the field, but got it done when it counted scoring 10 points and going 8-of-8 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter, including four in the final minute to seal it. Overall Poole went 11-of-11 from the line in the game and is now shooting 92.3% for the season.
The Warriors can clinch the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference with a win vs. the Pelicans on Sunday or a Mavericks loss to the Spurs. If neither of those things happen, they will be the No. 4 seed.
Here are 3 takeaways:
Kuminga making his case
As the season has winded down, consistent minutes have been harder to come by for rookie Jonathan Kuminga.
The development is curious. Kuminga played himself into a role as one of the team’s primary bench contributors by midseason, and one would think that his minutes would actually be increasing with Stephen Curry out of the lineup.
But the leash has been shorter with Kuminga in recent weeks, while players like Nemanja Bjelica have seen an increase in playing time.
This could have something to do with Steve Kerr being nervous about a lack of shooting off the bench. Kuminga has shot 31% from deep this season while Bjelica is shooting 35% this season and 38% for his career from 3. Maybe Kerr is trying to get Beli going before the postseason.
It could also just be Kerr being nervous about relying too heavily on rookies in the playoffs. Fellow rookie Moses Moody has fallen completely out of the rotation. Kerr might be trying to get longer looks at Bjelica, Andre Iguodala, Damion Lee and Otto Porter Jr. in the hopes that they could get the bulk of reserve minutes in higher leverage moments.
Regardless of Kerr’s plan, Kuminga did everything his power on Saturday to change his mind.
The 19-year-old was flawless in his 10 second quarter minutes, scoring 13 points and grabbing three rebounds while not missing a shot. Most importantly, he elevated the entire second unit. The Warriors went +14 during the stretch. Kuminga even showed off his playmaking with a full court assist to Gary Payton II.
Kuminga added five more in the 4th, including a big corner 3 to open the frame after the Spurs had cut Golden Sate’s lead to seven.
It might not be what he initially envisioned, but it’s getting harder to deny that Kuminga getting at least 15 minutes a game in the postseason won’t give the Warriors their best chance to win.
Bad for the NBA
It’s hard to imagine any non-Warriors or Spurs fan watching Saturday’s game.
With a play-in spot already clinched and a back to back on the horizon, San Antonio elected to sit their four best players in Dejounte Murray, Keldon Johnson, Jakob Poeltl and Devin Vassell. Keep in mind this is a Spurs team that entered this game 34-46 (mostly) with those players, so the starting lineup of Zach Collins, Keita Bates-Diop, Tre Jones, Josh Richardson and Josh Primo is not a group you’d expect to see starting most NBA games.
The Warriors did some scheduled resting of their own, leaving Klay Thompson on the bench to have him ready for tomorrow’s finale vs. the Pelicans.
It’s hard to blame the coaches for this; they have to do what they feel is best for their respective teams with the playoffs on the horizon. But Saturday’s game was not only brutal for the casual fan, it also completely shortchanged all the folks who bought tickets to watch these two teams play in San Antonio.
The Spurs made what looked like a Warriors cakewalk close at the end, so at least fans got some bang for their buck, but why should people be expected to consume a product that the coaches themselves have already determined is meaningless?
Which brings us to takeaway No. 3…
Kerr gets candid on resting stars
Steve Kerr doesn’t lack self-awareness. Similar to what commissioner Adam Silver said earlier this week, he knows that sitting his stars on the back end of back-to-backs isn’t good for the NBA product, even if he feels he it’s best for his team.
Kerr addressed the issue honestly during his pregame press conference.
“I agree with the commissioner,” Kerr said. “I think people pay a lot of money to watch the stars play, but we also know a lot more now about the body. We have a lot more information about how to prevent injuries. So every team has got a team of medical people advising us to sit our stars out for 10 games a year.”
While Silver didn’t say that he has a great solution for the time being, Kerr offered one up.
“To me what makes the most sense is cutting back to a 72 game schedule. Take 10 games off, get more time to rest in between games. I think you’ll get buy in from the teams to play their guys more often.
“It would require everybody to understand the financial ramifications. I think you could argue if it’s a better product you’re going to get better media rights deals, and a 72 game season might result in more money for the cap anyway. Less from gate receipts, but maybe more from media rights and in the end everybody could win.
“That’s just me guessing, I don’t have any data to back that up. That would be my preference.”
Silver mentioned that he believed the implementation of the play-in tournament would create an added incentive structure for teams who would otherwise be out of the playoff picture to play their stars. So far it doesn’t seem to be having that effect, perhaps in large part because most of the league’s biggest stars are on teams with more secure playoff situations. Silver did address the elimination of games as a possibility.
“I also have said in the past, if we have too many games, that’s something we should look at as well,” Silver said. “It’s something, as we sit down and we’re looking at new media deals and looking at a new collective bargaining agreement, we will be studying. There wasn’t any banging of the table or anything like that. From my discussions with players, they recognize it’s an issue, too. The style of the game has changed in terms of the impact on their bodies. I think we’ve got to constantly assess and look at a marketplace going forward and say, what’s the best way to present our product and over how long a season?”
Kerr reiterated that if the schedule remains at 82 games, resting players will continue to be a no-brainer.
“I know that especially as [Stephen Curry] gets older,” Kerr said, “even the thought of playing him 82 games doesn’t make sense because it just wears him down, and then by the time the playoffs start if he’s worn down, what are we doing?”