FIGHT TO FINISH
Thompson fuels Warriors’ fourth-quarter flurry to finally shake Timberwolves
OAKLAND >> Do the Warriors need more shootarounds?
On one hand, the Warriors still finished with a 116-99 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday at Oracle Arena for all the familiar reasons.
On the other hand, the Warriors (9-1) looked sluggish compared to earlier performances. Minnesota (4-5) committed only
three turnovers. The Warriors also trailed 87-83 after three quarters.
Still, the Warriors mostly followed the same script. Warriors forward Kevin Durant posted a team-leading 33 points on 11of-19 shooting. Warriors guard Stephen Curry added 28 points while going 11 of 24 from the field and 4 of 12 from 3-point range. Warriors guard Klay Thompson added 22 points, while Warriors forward Draymond Green became active as both a facilitator (11 assists) and defender.
Thompson completely turned the game over when he scored eight points within an 85-second span early in the fourth quarter. He then fed Andre Iguodala for an open dunk. Then, the Warriors went on a 13-5 run over the Timberwolves, and never looked back.
So why spend a morning exhausting unnecessary energy? Warriors assistant coach
Chris DeMarco wondered the same thing, and suggested to Warriors coach Steve Kerr about resting his players.
“He’s got a good feel for our guys and for our team,” Kerr said of DeMarco, who is also the team’s director of player development. “It sounded like a good idea. So we did it.”
The team did not entirely take it easy. Kerr estimated that “half the guys showed up anyway to get shots up.”
On optional practices, the Warriors still expect their young players to report to the gym. But as for the Warriors’ All-Stars, they did not need to attend. They proved in Friday’s game that they can manage just fine without a shootaround.
• Kerr did not want to chime in on Magic Johnson’s reportedly contentious meeting with Lakers coach Luke Walton.
Both Kerr and Walton remain close ever since he guided the Warriors to a 39-4 record as interim coach to the start the 201516 season. But Kerr respectfully declined to share his opinions on Johnson reportedly chastising Walton over the Lakers’ 3-5 start and his system .
“It’s not my business,” Kerr said. “I’m every fortunate to coach the Warriors. Luke’s a good friend, and I support him. What happens down there is not my business.”
Still, Kerr argued in training camp that Walton remained the right coach
in for the Lakers under a high-pressure environment. They have a superstar (LeBron James). They have a wide cast of veterans (Rajon Rondo, Michael Beasley, Lance Stephenson, JaVale McGee). They have young players (Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart).
“Luke was born to be a coach. He has the right temperament,” Kerr said. “He has an unbelievable knowledge
of the game and feel. He’s laid back and bright and can take the good with the bad and keep on going. He’s always happy. He knows what this is about. He grew up in the NBA. He grew up as a kid in an NBA locker room. He’s pretty much seen it all. I’m not worried about Luke.”
• Kerr has sympathy for Minnesota coach Tom Thibodeau. Kerr’s coaching resume with the Warriors
hardly matches his track record with the Phoenix Suns’ front office.
“I wasn’t a good general manager,” said Kerr, who lasted only three seasons (2007-2010) before stepping down.
Therefore, Kerr had plenty of respect for Thibodeau bearing both responsibilities as both a head coach and front office executive. That has left Thibodeau in a tenuous situation given All-Star Jimmy Butler demanding a trade.
“For me, it wouldn’t work,” Kerr said. “I would need to do one or the other. But that’s not to say it can’t work for somebody else I think they are two very difficult jobs just on their own.”
• Warriors veteran Shaun Livingston missed Friday’s game against Minnesota, marking the fourth consecutive game he has missed with a sore right foot.