Warriors’ Oubre Jr. thrives in new role
The Warriors found a way to beat the NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers and, in doing so, may have discovered something more important for them this season.
In Golden State’s 115-113 win late Monday over the Lakers at Staples Center, forward Kelly Oubre Jr. thrived in a new role.
Used as the primary defender on LeBron James, as a catchand-shoot threat on offense and part of a revamped bench unit, Oubre finished with 23 points on 9-for-18 shooting (2 for 8 from 3-point range) and the Warriors (7-6) came back to beat the Lakers in a nationallytelevised showcase on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
“Kelly played arguably his best game on both ends of the floor,” said Stephen Curry. “And this is a step in the right direction.”
When the second quarter began Monday night, Oubre took Andrew Wiggins’ place as part of a new-look reserve unit with Curry and Draymond Green on the bench.
Playing most of his minutes without Curry, with whom Oubre has struggled to play with at times this season, Oubre scored 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting in 18 first-half minutes.
“I just decided to make the change, thinking about it over the last couple of days, just to flipflop Andrew and Kelly in the rotation to give Kelly a chance to play with a different group,” Kerr said.
Oubre held James to 19 points on 6-for-16 shooting, five rebounds and five assists.
“He’s finding his way on this team,” Green said. “Huge game for us. We need him to continue to build on that.”