Warriors Beat: Kerr will keep Mannion, Poole in rotation.

Thursday night’s blowout loss to the Clippers didn’t change Warriors head coach Steve Kerr’s opinion about Jordan Poole and Nico Mannion: Going forward, those two will continue to have rotation roles.

“I thought that young group did a really good job in the fourth quarter,” Kerr said. “Obviously, the game was out of hand, but they executed well. We’re going to continue to play those guys and see what they can do, and give them a chance. I like the energy. I like the skill level.”

Before the AllStar break, Kerr hinted at possible changes he planned to make to the rotation. On Thursday, in the Warriors’ first game back from the weeklong hiatus, fans got to see a bit of those tweaks. Though center James Wiseman’s absence from the first three quarters kept Kerr from playing his preferred rotation, he had some adjustments that figure to stick even after Wiseman is back at his normal workload Sunday against the Jazz.

The most notable change was that Poole and Mannion, fresh off impressive showings at the G League bubble near Orlando, replaced Damion Lee and Brad Wanamaker in the rotation. While Poole finished with 14 points and four assists in 20 minutes, Mannion posted 10 points, three rebounds, two assists and four turnovers in 21 minutes.

This was a sign that, even though Golden State is chasing a playoff berth, Kerr is making the team’s longterm outlook a priority. Giving Poole and Mannion extended run allows him to evaluate whether those two should factor into the Warriors’ 202122 plans.

The newlook second unit, which will likely feature Wiseman at center Sunday alongside Poole, Mannion, Eric Paschall and Kelly Oubre Jr., is a highenergy group that could thrive in pickandroll situations. But as a former reserve guard who sometimes struggled to crack the rotation, Kerr is empathetic toward Wanamaker, Lee and Mychal Mulder — all of whom are currently out of the rotation.

“It’s a very difficult role to be expected to come in and produce when you haven’t played in five or six games,” Kerr said. “But that’s the NBA, and those guys — Brad, Mike Mulder, whoever else — know this is all sort of part of the equation. Their time is going to come.”