Warriors overcome nervy moment after Steph leaves injured originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO — The scariest sight for the Warriors and their fans Friday night wasn’t the avalanche of turnovers that left scars on theirs. 109-106 preseason win over the rival Sacramento Kings.
No, the worst of it was seeing Stephen Curry and health/performance specialist Dr. Rick Celebrini walk into the locker room. late in the second quarter and not coming back for the second half.
Did some Golden State hearts skip a beat?
“Always,” coach Steve Kerr said. “Steph is Steph, then. I was assured at half time that he was fine. X-rays were negative. There was something too disturbing.
“But yeah, you always get nervous when he gets hurt.”
Fortunately for the Warriors, and their fans, the issue that led to Curry’s sudden departure was nothing more than a jammed right index finger, which is not considered serious. As Curry’s teammates contested the court in the second half, he went through individual training.
Such a precaution is prudent, as it would be beyond foolish to endanger the franchise player in a preseason game — even though Kerr planned to push Curry beyond the ragged 16 minutes he spent on the court.
“He’s actually going to play in the third quarter tonight for the first time (this preseason),” Kerr said. “But when he jammed his finger, it didn’t make sense to send him back there.”
Bullet dodged. If ever there was a snapshot that illustrates the imperceptible margin of error for these Warriors, it’s Curry’s health. If he’s available, they can be good enough to scare even the NBA’s certified elite. If he’s not available, they’re an average team trying to stay relevant in the unforgiving jungle that is the Western Conference.
The benefit of Curry’s early departure is that it gave the other Warriors considerable room to display their wares. 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 later emptied his bench, playing 16 players, with the three under two-way contracts — guard Reece Beekman, center Quinten Post and guard Pat Spencer — sharing the floor with Gui Santos and Waters. It was the 13-4 run of that group over the final 3:30 that ensured the victory.
The youngsters were not always disciplined, but they never stopped scrapping and moving. Playing as if jobs and rotation slots were at risk — in some cases they were — they delivered the kind of crowd-electrifying grit all too often missing last season.
It was enough to overcome Sacramento’s 93-66 advantage in field goal attempts, many of which were a direct result of Golden State’s 24 turnovers. The Kings scored nearly one-third of their points (35) from charity.
The Warriors wasted no time, giving Sacramento eight points on seven first-quarter turnovers. The starting lineup — Gary Payton II, Moses Moody, Kyle Anderson, Draymond Green and Curry — was news, and it showed.
“I wanted to play a little different group and see what that looked like,” Kerr said. “It didn’t look good. We didn’t have a gap, obviously. Then (the Kings) went to some zone defense.
“But that’s what preseason is all about. We haven’t even worked on a zone offense yet. It’s good to see all this stuff on tape and start putting the work into other areas. The turnovers were a result of poor execution. That’s down to us as a coaching staff, and bad pace.”
What was apparent was that the Warriors have enough quality players to wear down opponents — if they can follow their indefatigable leader.
“Everybody was part of that group that just went in and gave everything they had,” Jonathan Kuminga said of the closing group. “I think it’s going to be like that for us all year. 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 for an entire season, Curry is this team’s only path to real prosperity. He needed help in this game, as his 16 minutes featured 2-of-7 shooting, including 1-of-4 from distance, four assists, three rebounds and four turnovers He was below par, and his teammates had his back.
There will be nights, however, when Curry will have to carry his usual heavy load. Nights when he is the margin between victory and defeat. The Warriors welcome that, because it means he’s on the court in uniform rather than on the bench in street clothes.
Although it was briefly worrisome, Curry is relatively unscathed. The Warriors and their fans can breathe easy.
