Kerr to rest Green, Iguodala for meaningless finale
Warriors forwards Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green will rest during Wednesday’s regular-season finale against the Lakers, Golden State head coach Steve Kerr said.
Because the Warriors have clinched home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, Kerr has the luxury of sitting players without potentially hurting the team’s seeding. Iguodala, who at 33 deals with an achy back and a nagging hamstring injury, rests periodically. More surprising is that Green will sit for the second time in four games.
“What I’ve found with Draymond is that, if the game is meaningless, so is Draymond,” Kerr said. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. But Draymond needs some stakes. He needs some competition. He needs the game to be meaningful.”
Kerr noticed that Green didn’t approach Monday night’s game against the Jazz with his usual tenacity. The two-time All-Star was a nonfactor for stretches, finishing with five points, four rebounds and three assists in 25 minutes. Kerr has no doubt that, when the first round of the playoffs starts this weekend against Portland, Green will return to his fiery ways.
Kerr said that on Monday night “there just wasn’t enough competitive fire in the game itself to bring the most out of Draymond. I’d rather give him the night off.”
Kerr has made a point all season to find pockets of rest for his core players. After Golden State secured the No. 1 overall seed with last Wednesday’s win at Phoenix, he rested Stephen Curry in Saturday’s win over New Orleans and Klay Thompson in Monday’s loss to Utah.
Against the Lakers, Kerr will limit his available starters to 25-28 minutes. The only possible exception is Kevin Durant. After leading the Warriors with 30-plus minutes in each of his first two games back from the knee injury that sidelined him fiveplus weeks, Durant is eager to shoulder a heavy workload as he readies for the playoffs. Curry No.1: Curry won’t be MVP this season, but that hasn’t kept him from leading the league in jersey sales for the second straight year.
Durant checks in at No. 3, according to rankings based on NBAStore.com sales since the start of the 2016-17 season. Cleveland’s LeBron James (No. 2), Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook (No. 4) and the Cavaliers’ Kyrie Irving (No. 5) round out the top five.
Golden State maintains its spot atop team merchandise sales. Cleveland is No. 2, Chicago is No. 3, the Lakers are No. 4 and the Knicks are No. 5. Barnes update: Forward Matt Barnes is feeling better after missing Monday’s game with a sprained right ankle, but won’t be available Wednesday against the Lakers. The Warriors hope that he will be ready for the series against the Trail Blazers.