16 April 2023 , 18:56
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NBA star Stephen Curry provided an interesting response to a rotation question following a defeat for the Golden State Warriors.
In the between two California-based sides, the defending champions succumbed to a narrow 126-123 loss to the Sacramento Kings in round one of the NBA Playoffs. Eyebrows were raised following the timing of Curry’s trips to the bench at the Golden 1 Center last night. When asked about his substitution pattern, Curry immediately began laughing as a reporter asked the question.
"I don't know, man," Curry said. "I played 37 [minutes]. You got 11 [minutes] on the bench. Try to find the right times to get a little breather knowing that I'm not playing 48, but yeah, I don't know." He added:” "I was waiting for you to say it. Y'all in cahoots over here. That's nice."
Curry was benched during the third quarter of the game with the Warriors leading 86-78, but his absence was sorely felt as the Kings started to put things together on the floor, going on a blistering 13-4 run to re-take the lead and put the Warriors in a dangerous position.
The Kings extended their lead in the opening of the fourth quarter, opening up a four-point gap on the hosts. Despite entering back into the game with nine minutes remaining and hitting 13 points, Curry was unable to inspire a comeback.
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Despite the tough loss, post-game coach Steve Kerr explained he is confident in Golden State's ability to bounce back in game two. "We'll look at the tape and see if there's something we want to do differently," Kerr told reporters. "But all in all, to come out here, 10-point lead in the second half, did plenty of good things, had a chance to win at the end, I think we're in a pretty good place. We just couldn't complete the game tonight, but it's a seven-game series so we'll bounce back."
One positive for the Dubs last night was the return of Andrew Wiggins, who missed two months of action due to a family matter. In 28 minutes, he finished with 17 points on 7-of-16 shooting and four blocked shots, including three in the first half, tied for the most in any half of his career.
Curry scored 30 but missed a game-tying three pointer in the closing stages of the opening playoff game (Loren Elliott/Getty Images)Warriors coach Steve Kerr said the plan was to have their X-factor back for the first time since February. He played the closing five to six minutes of each quarter and the rest at the top of the following period. "When you go through all the decisions to put a roster together, all of the pieces have to fit," Curry said. "He's a big part of everything we do.
“When you go into a season, you want to be as fully healthy as possible because that's the way all the pieces are meant to fit. We haven't had it for a very long time and we tried to hold down the fort. Now we have that look back." Kerr added: “So awesome to have him back. You know, we're whole with him out there. Our team makes sense with Wiggs back.
“I thought he looked really good. The first half was amazing, second half he maybe wore down a little bit, which is to be expected, given he hasn't played in a game in over two months. He was fantastic."