It has been a while since Steph Curry’s rotational pattern has been a topic of conversation, but that talking point might resurface with each passing NBA playoff game.
Following the Warriors’ tough 126-123 loss to the Sacramento Kings in Game 1 of their NBA playoff series Saturday night at Golden 1 Center, Curry was asked by The Athletic’s Anthony Slater about his substitution pattern.
Curry immediately began laughing as Slater 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.”
When The Athletic’s Marcus Thompson II began a follow-up question, Curry kept the joke going.
“I was waiting for you to say it,” Curry said. “Y’all in cahoots over here. That’s nice.”
All joking aside, the non-Curry minutes at the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth quarter might have cost the Warriors the game against the No. 3 seed Kings.
Curry subbed out of the game at the 2:18 mark of the third quarter with the Warriors up 86-78 and the Kings closed the period on a 13-4 run to take a 91-90 lead into the fourth quarter.
The reigning NBA Finals MVP remained on the bench when the final quarter began and the Kings pushed their lead to 101-97 before Curry re-entered the game with 9:20 left in the game.
Curry played the rest of the game and did his part to help the Warriors try to pull out the win, scoring 13 of his team-high 30 points in the fourth quarter. But those five minutes of game action on the bench appear to have swung the game toward the Kings.
The Warriors should have enough firepower and smarts to withstand a long stretch without Curry. On this night, that didn’t happen and now they find themselves in a one-game-to-none hole against their NorCal rivals.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr doesn’t want to push Curry north of 40 minutes a night, but with the heightened importance of each game, it might be time for Curry to play the entire fourth quarter.
