MINNEAPOLIS – Minutes were top of mind for Warriors coach Steve Kerr going into Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals Thursday at Target Center. As in how many minutes his two veteran stars, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green, would play with Steph Curry sidelined by a Grade 1 left hamstring strain.
Kerr wasn’t going to chase a win and run two 35-year-olds into the ground after the high-intensity stretch of games they’ve been playing with little rest in between, boarding numerous flights since the NBA playoffs began two and a half weeks ago. His bench brigade was given a warning, or better yet, an opportunity.
The Green Machine was ready to roll.
The nickname refers to a group of reserves who wore green practice jerseys in their first-round matchup against the Houston Rockets. It’s a group that showed fight and grit whenever given an opportunity. A group that energizes and doesn’t back down.
“He was like, ‘Green Machine, be ready. This might be a game you guys get in. Could be two minutes at the top of the second.’ We got in and we’re just trying to cause havoc,” Trayce Jackson-Davis said.
The Warriors lost Game 2 against the Minnesota Timberwolves by 24 points Thursday night, evening the series at one win apiece, but two bright spots off the bench will have to make Kerr rethink his ever-changing rotation. Jonathan Kuminga led the Warriors with 18 points off the bench, making his first eight shots, and grabbed five rebounds. Jackson-Davis scored 15 points, making all six of his shots, and the backup center hauled in six rebounds.
Unlike Game 1, the Warriors didn’t have the advantage from the 3-point line. Coming by threes always becomes harder without the gravity and greatness of the best shooter in the game’s history. The Warriors had a 39-point advantage from long distance Tuesday. The Timberwolves on Thursday tallied 21 more points beyond the arc than them.
That’s where the athleticism of Kuminga and Jackson-Davis can become an advantage for the Warriors without Curry.
“The domino effect of Steph being out led to Trayce playing tonight,” Kerr explained. “Because we need the scoring, we need the finishing. You saw what he did out there. Same thing with JK.
“We had found a formula over the last couple of months and obviously we’re having a lot of success, but without Steph the formula completely goes out the window, and we’ve got to figure out the next one.”
Whatever Kerr concocts next, Kuminga and Jackson-Davis should be part of the equation, at least for Game 3 on Saturday night at Chase Center. Both young players fell out of the rotation throughout the year, but each provides something the rest of the team doesn’t.
They combined for five dunks, three from Jackson-Davis and two by Kuminga. The Warriors scored 42 points in the paint, with 24 – 12 each – coming from Jackson-Davis and Kuminga.
All six of Jackson-Davis’ made shots were within three feet of the basket, the furthest being one of the best sequences of the game from either side. Donte DiVincenzo saw Rudy Gobert get behind Jackson-Davis, but the Warriors center recognized what was going on, backpedaled and met him at the rim to deny an alley-oop. He then sprinted the floor, caught a pass from Brandin Podziemski in stride and the lefty finished with a right-handed finger roll through traffic for a three-point play.
With Gobert on him at the right corner during the second quarter, Butler yelled for Kuminga to attack. He did, taking the 7-foot-1 Frenchman off the dribble before dunking on his head.
“They’re a big team, so to have a rim presence and threat is important,” Kerr said.
But adding Jackson-Davis and Kuminga to a shorter rotation than using all 14 players like Kerr did in Game 2 means eliminating two players. Specifically, Moses Moody and Quinten Post.
Moody in 16 minutes off the bench was a minus-14 with all three of his points coming at the free-throw line. He missed all five of his shot attempts, including four 3-pointers. Moody in the last three games has now taken 14 shots, including eight threes, and is 0 of 14.
“He’s not in a rhythm right now,” Kerr said. “We just have to stay with it. He’s got to stay with it. I’m very confident, because I’ve watched Moses for four years. I know his character, I know his work ethic, I know his skill. He’ll find his way back.”
For the fifth time in nine playoff games, Kerr used a different starting lineup. Matching the Timberwolves’ size and needing spacing without Curry, Kerr chose to go with rookie center Post. The decision backfired badly.
Minnesota went on a 13-0 run to begin the game in three-plus minutes. Post was replaced by Kuminga to start the second half, and he didn’t see the court again after that first ugly stint. He has played nine minutes through two games this series, having yet to score and only has one rebound.
A deficit that big, that fast is a tough enough blow when the Warriors do have Curry. Without him, swimming upstream had them sinking despite multiple valiant efforts.
“Experimental or not, I’d still like to win,” Butler said. “I think the biggest lesson is don’t start off in a hole like we did tonight. That game maybe could have ended up a little bit differently, but it’s hard to come out of that hole.”
The loss isn’t on Moody, nor is it on Post. Curry’s injury forced Kerr’s hand at almost another feel-it-out game, and what became clear is the athleticism and rim pressure Kuminga and Jackson-Davis provide is worth running back for a longer look, starting Saturday night back on their home court in front of Dub Nation.
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