Kerr appreciates changes in schedule

LOS ANGELES — A quarter of the way through the NBA regular season, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr sees the benefits of the league’s efforts to cut down on travelheavy stretches.

“I think it helps,” Kerr said of the NBA schedule. “It’s better for rest.”

Golden State has 14 back-to-backs, down from 17 last season. It has no four-games-infive-nights stretches, and it’s on national TV only once on the second game of a back-toback. That was possible largely because the NBA trimmed its preseason from eight games to four or five, allowing the regular season to start two weeks earlier than normal.

Because the Warriors hope to play into June for the fourth straight year, Kerr guards against fatigue by running light practices, effectively eliminating 5-on-5 scrimmages from workouts and resting rotation players — particularly those in the latter stages of their careers — from time to time. It all has helped Golden State, which is in the midst of a six-city, 10-day road trip, avoid major injuries.

Unlike last season, when one especially grueling travel stretch prompted Kerr to sit a handful of his core players for a nationally televised game in San Antonio, the Warriors don’t anticipate resting players en masse. However, the players are still getting accustomed to the rhythm of the new schedule. “Ironically, there’s probably less practice time because it just seems like we have a game every other day,” Kerr said. “In the past, you might go through a couple of days without a game, so you get some practice in, then you play four in five nights.

“So, it’s a different vibe. Now, it just feels like it’s an every-other-night league. It’s different on their bodies. We’re still adjusting in terms of practice times and schedules, but I like it. The league did a good job.” Keeping it light: During Lakers head coach Luke Walton’s media scrum 75 minutes before tip-off Wednesday, Warriors vice president of communications Raymond Ridder had a sheet placed in front of Walton with the records of Golden State’s two former interim head coaches: Mike Brown at 12-0 and Luke Walton at 39-4.

It was a lighthearted jab at Walton, who parlayed his successful stint subbing for Kerr at the start of the 2015-16 season into the Lakers’ headcoaching job.

“Raymond has an interesting sense of humor,” Walton said. “What he finds funny a lot of people don’t, but I’m proud of him for trying.”