Thursday, March 28

Undermanned West rivals Warriors, Grizzlies take one another’s measure


MEMPHIS — The last time Warriors head coach Steve Kerr decided to rest his veterans, the available reserves went down to Miami and knocked off one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. That certainly caught the attention of Grizzles head coach Taylor Jenkins in evaluating potential playoff opponents, especially one the Grizzlies eliminated in last year’s play-in round.

“They went down to Miami against one of the elite teams in the league and won,” he said. “They’re a confident group. They stick to their principles.”

Jenkins nevertheless acknowledged that things are much different with Stephen Curry out of the lineup. “He’s a huge player in their system.”

Obviously. But the Warriors and Grizzles have experienced vastly different results this season playing without their franchise centerpieces. Entering Monday’s game, Golden State was 3-9 this season without Curry — and he won’t be back in the lineup for at least the next week. But Ja Morant tweaked knee in Memphis’ recent meeting with the Hawks. He’s missed the team’s last four games as a result and, like Curry, he likely wo n’t return until the regular season is just about through.

The key difference? The Grizzlies didn’t take a step back without Morant on the court. Going into Monday’s game with the Warriors, Memphis has gone 17-2 this season when Morant doesn’t play, and that has helped them climb past the Warriors into second place behind the Suns in the West as a result. Don’t think Kerr hasn’t noticed.

“Memphis is having a spectacular year,” Kerr said. “When you can win without your best player at such a high clip, it tells you all you need to know about the team’s depth, its coaching, its connection. So they have something special going here. They’ve been really impressive.”

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Draymond Green is familiar with playing on a young, deep team with championship aspirations, and understands the threat that Memphis again presents come playoff time.

“They’re young and unbothered,” he said. “That’s a great trait to have when you’re a young team trying to make your way up, which they’re doing, just being unfazed and unbothered by anything.”

Iguodala returns: Veteran forward Andre Iguodala returned from a 21-game absence Monday and Memphis, and is slated to play 15-17 minutes per night for the remainder of the regular season. Although Iguodala had only played 26 games this season before his return to action, Kerr was excited to have him back in the fold as the team makes its push toward the postseason.

“We can’t wait to get Andre back out there,” he said. “He’s one of the smartest players I’ve ever been around. And frankly, we miss his court awareness of him at both ends, his communication of him, his ability to handle the ball, kind of play that point-forward role. It will be a welcomed sight.”

New line-up: With Kerr resting Klay Thompson, Green and Otto Porter Jr. against the Grizzlies, it afforded him a chance to experiment further. Kevon Looney returned to the starting lineup, joined by Jordan Poole, Gary Payton II, Andrew Wiggins and Jonathan Kuminga.

“These games can be helpful,” Kerr said. “I mean, obviously you want everybody healthy. But when you’re missing key guys, it gives younger guys an opportunity to step in.”

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It represented an opportunity for Kuminga in particular after a rough pair of starts over the weekend, including a second-half benching against the Wizards. “Rookies are more susceptible to being pulled from the lineup if the game’s not going a certain way, like last night and you’re searching for a combination, whatever it is,” Kerr said. “But games like these, you’re going to play.”

CJ Holmes covers the Warriors for The San Francisco Chronicle. E-mail:
[email protected]
Twitter:
@CjHolmes22




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