DiVincenzo returns to Warriors’ lineup

Kerr says guard will free Poole from point duties to help boost his scoring

Guard Donte DiVincenzo returned to the Golden State Warriors lineup on Friday after missing eight consecutive games because of a left hamstring strain. He was placed on a 20-minute restriction for the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

DiVincenzo’s return also meant head coach Steve Kerr would be shuffling his bench rotation yet again.

“It’s big because he understands how to play winning basketball and he showed a lot of positive signs before he got hurt,” Warriors guard Stephen Curry said. “He was brought here for that specific purpose, to give us amazing depth . ... It’s good to get him back, get his rhythm back and figure out what the rotations will be with him available.

Guard Ty Jerome, who had been playing extended minutes in DiVincenzo’s absence, remained active against Cleveland. But Kerr made it clear that DiVincenzo, not Jerome, will be featured more prominently in the second unit’s backcourt going forward — playing alongside Jordan Poole.

DiVincenzo and Poole had played just 31 minutes together this season. Although Golden State has been minus-6.3 with that specific two-man lineup on the court in that limited amount of time, Kerr strongly believes DiVincenzo’s return will help ignite Poole.

“We really liked the Donte/Jordan dynamic in preseason and then early in the year,” Kerr said. “I’ve always liked to have a ballhandling point guard next to Jordan to allow him to play off the ball and not have so many point guard responsibilities. So you could still see Ty

out there playing potentially ... but Donte and Jordan will definitely be on the floor together.”

Poole averaged 10.5 points per game on 29.5% shooting in his past four appearances entering Friday night. DiVincenzo has averaged five points on 45.5% shooting and one assist in his three appearances this season.

“I think Jordan's always been more comfortable kind of playing as a combo guard rather than having to manage the team and run the point on his own,” Kerr said. “Both of them can make plays. Both can play on or off the ball. They're both good shooters, so it's a good combination.” Progress reports: Warriors rookies Patrick Baldwin Jr. and Ryan Rollins have spent this past week on assignment with G League affiliate Santa Cruz. Kerr has stayed up to date with their performances and progress and had encouraging news to share.

“Yeah, I watched them last night,” Kerr said. “I didn't see the first game but they both played really well last night, the team got a really good victory. I got good reports from (G League head coach) Seth (Cooper) on both of them, so a good, productive trip for them so far and they got one more game in Las Vegas I think tomorrow.”

Santa Cruz plays the G League Ignite in Henderson, Nev., on Saturday.