The Warriors overcome the nervous moment after Steph’s departure due to a minor injury 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 scarred their Preseason win 109-106 over the rival Sacramento Kings.
No, the worst part was seeing Stephen Curry and health and performance specialist Dr. Rick Celebrini walk into the locker room. At the end of the second quarter. and not returning for the second half.
Did some Golden State hearts skip a beat?
“Always,” coach Steve Kerr said. “Steph is Steph, then. At halftime they assured me he was fine. The x-rays were negative. It was something too worrying.
“But yeah, you always get nervous when he gets hurt.”
Fortunately for the Warriors and their fans, the issue that led to Curry’s abrupt departure was nothing more than a stuck right index finger that is not considered serious. While Curry’s teammates played on the court in the second half, he went through individual training.
Such caution is prudent, as it would have been beyond foolish to jeopardize the franchise player in a preseason game, although Kerr had planned to pressure Curry beyond the irregular 16 minutes he spent on the court.
“Tonight I was going to play into the third quarter for the first time (this preseason),” Kerr said. “But when he hurt his finger, there was no point in sending him back there.”
Bullet dodged. If ever there was a snapshot that illustrates the imperceptible margin for error of these Warriors, it is Curry’s health. If 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 advantage of Curry’s early departure is that it gave the other Warriors considerable space to display their assets. At one point in the fourth quarter, trailing by three, Golden State was represented by Moisés Moody, De’Anthony Melton, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Lindy Waters III and Pat Spencer.
Kerr eventually emptied his bench, playing with 16 players, with all three under two-way contracts (guard Reece Beekman, center Quinten Post and guard Pat Spencer) sharing the court with Gui Santos and Waters. It was that group’s 13-4 run in the final 3:30 that secured the victory.
The young men were not always disciplined, but they never stopped fighting and rushing. Playing as if jobs and rotation spots were on the line (in some cases they were), they provided the kind of electrifying grit that was 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 almost a third of their points (35) on charity.
The Warriors wasted no time and gave Sacramento eight points after seven turnovers in the first quarter. The starting lineup (Gary Payton II, Moses Moody, Kyle Anderson, Draymond Green and Curry) was a novelty, and it showed.
“I wanted to play with a little bit of a different group and see what it looked like,” Kerr said. “It didn’t look good. Obviously we didn’t have spaces. Then (the Kings) went to some zone defense.
“But that’s what the preseason is about. We haven’t even worked on the zone offense yet. It’s good to see all this recorded and start working on other areas. The turnovers were the result of poor execution. “That depends on us as a coaching staff and the bad rhythm.”
What was evident was that the Warriors have enough quality players to wear down their opponents, if they can follow their indefatigable leader.
“They were all part of that group that just came in and gave everything they had,” Jonathan Kuminga said of the closing group. “I think that’s how it will be for us all year long. Just give all the energy 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 the course of a full season, Curry is this team’s only path to true prosperity. He needed help in this game, as his 16 minutes included 2-of-7 shooting, including 1-of-4 from long range, four assists, three rebounds and four turnovers. He was below his standard and his teammates had his back.
There will be nights, however, when Curry will have to carry his usual heavy load. Nights in which he is the margin between victory and defeat. The Warriors appreciate that, because it means he will be on the court in uniform instead of on the bench in street clothes.
Although briefly concerning, Curry is relatively unscathed. The Warriors and their fans can breathe easy.