Rested and back on track in romp
With spring in step again, victory streak reaches 5
DALLAS — Steve Kerr is a master at keeping perspective. When he senses the stress of another NBA title pursuit wearing on his players, the Warriors’ head coach often reminds them of a basic truth: They get paid a lot to play basketball.
Kerr, who had not coached before Golden State hired him in May 2014, is in the third season of a five-year, $25 million deal. But he would be willing to forfeit some of that if required to shorten the NBA regular season.
“I wouldn’t be opposed to it, even at the expense to my own salary,” Kerr said Tuesday before the Warriors’ 112-87 rout of the Mavericks at American Airlines Center. “I think even just going down to 75 games (from 82), I think that would make a dramatic difference in schedule.”
It is a belief rooted in firsthand experience.
Ten days removed from resting four of his core players in a nationally televised game in San Antonio, Kerr traces his team’s current five-game winning streak back to that decision. Allowing Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala an extra night to ease achy muscles might be a big reason Golden State has found its footing without the injured Kevin Durant.
To pull away for another convincing victory Tuesday, the Warriors parlayed stingy defense into open looks at the rim. Harrison Barnes, the ex-Golden State forward who has flourished this season as Dallas’ go-to scorer, was shut down by Green and mustered only five points on 2-for-10 shooting. With few potent options around Barnes, the Mavericks finished 33-for-92 (35.9 percent) from the field.
Thriving in transition, the Warriors used a 28-7, first-half run to create distance. All 13 of their three-pointers Tuesday came before the end of the third quarter, which they closed with a 91-71 lead.
With Durant (knee) and Iguodala (hip) watching from the bench in street clothes, Klay Thompson (23 points), Ian Clark (18) and Stephen Curry (17) shouldered the offensive load.
“When you play with great energy on defense,” Thompson said, “it’s always going to translate over to offense.”
Including the Feb. 28 Washington game in which Durant hyperextended his left knee, Golden State dropped five of its first seven games without its most consistent player. That the Warriors were slogging through an eight-game, 13-day odyssey only compounded the learning curve that comes with replacing a future Hall of Famer.
Though angry emails filled his inbox after he rested his top four available players March 11 in San Antonio, Kerr trusted that the added rest would help Golden State snap out of its most extended rut of his tenure. Three nights later, to escape with a win over Philadelphia, the Warriors held their opponent to 14 fourth-quarter points. In each of the four games since then, they have surrendered fewer than 100 points — their longest such stretch this season.
Blocks and steals have afforded Golden State numerous fastbreak opportunities. Thompson and Curry, whose extended shooting slumps contributed immensely to their team’s earlier struggles, have combined to go 31-for-58 (53.4 percent) from three-point distance in their past three games. During their current winning streak, the Warriors are averaging 113.6 points. Their average margin of victory in that span is 19.6 points.
“It’s funny,” Curry said. “Two or three weeks ago, everyone was wondering what’s wrong with everyone’s shot . ... But we never panicked and never got ahead of ourselves.”
After a cast of reserves was pummeled this month in San Antonio, Golden State’s lead over the Spurs for the Western Conference’s top seed stood at half a game. Now, with 11 games left in the regular season, the Warriors are 2½ games up on San Antonio.
It underscores why Kerr has long trumpeted the virtues of rest. To get more for his players in coming seasons, he is even willing to give up some of that $5 million annual salary.
“Resting those guys last week was beneficial,” Kerr said. “I think it’s shown to be so. You can see our guys are fresher.”