Warriors overcome nervous moment after Steph’s departure with minor injury originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO — The most terrifying sight for the Warriors and their fans Friday night wasn’t the avalanche of turnovers that scarred their 109-106 preseason victory over the rival Sacramento Kings.
No, the worst part was that Stephen Curry and health/performance specialist Dr. Rick Celebrini walked into the locker room late in the second quarter and did not return for the second half.
Did some Golden State hearts skip a beat?
“Always,” coach Steve Kerr said. “Steph is Steph, so. At halftime I was sure he was doing well. X-rays were negative. It was a little too worrying.
“But yeah, you always get nervous when he gets hurt.”
Fortunately for the Warriors and their fans, the problem that led to Curry’s abrupt departure was little more than a jammed right index finger that is not considered serious. While Curry’s teammates were romping around the court in the second half, he was undergoing individual training.
Such a precaution is wise, as it would have been more than foolish to endanger the franchise player in a preseason game – although Kerr had intended to push Curry beyond the ragged sixteen minutes he spent on the court .
“He was actually going to go into the third quarter tonight for the first time (this preseason),” Kerr said. “But when he jammed his finger, there was no point in sending him back.”
Bullet dodged. If there was ever a snapshot that illustrates these Warriors’ imperceptible margin for error, it’s Curry’s health. If he’s available, they could be good enough to scare even the NBA’s certified elite. When he’s unavailable, it’s an average team trying to stay relevant in the unforgiving jungle of the Western Conference.
The upside of Curry’s early departure is that it gave the other Warriors a lot of room to showcase their goods. At one point in the fourth quarter, trailing by three, Golden State was represented by Moses Moody, De’Anthony Melton, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Lindy Waters III and Pat Spencer.
Kerr eventually cleared his bench and played 16 players, with the three under contract of two players – guard Reece Beekman, center Quinten Post and guard Pat Spencer – sharing the floor with Gui Santos and Waters. It was that group’s 13-4 run over the final 3:30 that secured the victory.
The young people were not always disciplined, but they never stopped demolishing and messing around. They played as if lanes and rotations were on the line – in some cases they were – and provided the kind of crowd-pleasing grit that was too often lacking last season.
It was enough to overcome Sacramento’s 93-66 advantage in field goal attempts, much of which was a direct result of Golden State’s 24 turnovers. The Kings scored almost a third of their points (35) for charity.
The Warriors wasted no time gifting Sacramento with eight points on seven turnovers in the first quarter. The starting lineup – Gary Payton II, Moses Moody, Kyle Anderson, Draymond Green and Curry – was new, and it showed.
“I wanted to play in a different group and see what that looked like,” Kerr said. “It didn’t look good. Obviously we didn’t have room. Then (the Kings) went to a zone defense.
“But that’s what preseason is all about. We haven’t even worked on zone offense yet. It’s good to see all these things on tape and start focusing the work on other areas. The turnover was the result of poor execution. That is up to us as a coaching staff and the poor pace.”
What was clear was that the Warriors have enough quality players to wear down opponents – if they can follow their tireless leader.
“Everyone was part of the group that just came in and gave everything they had,” Jonathan Kuminga said of the closing group. “I think it will be like that for us all year long. Just give as much energy as you have, because we have a lot of people. If you’re tired, someone else can come in and pick up where you left off.
Sounds good. But over a full season, Curry is this team’s only route to true prosperity. He needed help in this game as in his 16 minutes he shot 2-of-7, including 1-of-4 from distance, four assists, three rebounds and four turnover. He was below his level and his teammates had his back.
However, there will be nights where Curry will have to carry his usual heavy load. Nights in which he is the margin between victory and defeat. The Warriors welcome that because it means he’ll be on the court in uniform instead of on the bench in street clothes.
While it was briefly concerning, Curry is relatively unscathed. The Warriors and their fans can breathe easy.
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