NBA: Stars set to return for Warriors vs Clippers
Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors reacts to a play by teammate Andrew Wiggins #22 during the first quarter against the Los Angeles Clippers at Crypto.com Arena on February 14, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images/AFP
Several key Golden State players, including All-Stars Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins, will be well-rested as they attempt to deal with the weight of a season-worst, five-game losing streak Tuesday night when the Warriors face the Los Angeles Clippers in San Francisco.
The Warriors sent five players home two days early in their just completed, four-game trip, a trek on which Golden State walked away winless against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets.
The trip ended with a 131-124 loss at Denver on Monday, when the Warriors received a spirited effort led by youngsters Jordan Poole (32 points), Moses Moody (30) and Jonathan Kuminga (16).
Each played 29 or more minutes in the planned absence of Curry, Wiggins and Klay Thompson. Gary Payton II (sore left knee) and Otto Porter Jr. (illness) also were excused from the contest, as were Draymond Green (disc issue) and James Wiseman (knee surgery), both of whom continued extended layoffs that could be ending in the next few weeks.
Golden State hopes a return home, where it was last seen losing to the New York Knicks, Nuggets and Mavericks among four games, helps spark a course reversal. The Warriors have fallen behind the Memphis Grizzlies and into third place in the Western Conference.
The Warriors will play five of their next six at home, with the only road contest being a second trip this week to Denver for a Thursday game.
Golden State coach Steve Kerr noted that the return visit to the Mile High City played a role in his decision to rest his stars Monday in a game added to the schedule to replace a COVID-related postponement in December.
“The decision was pretty easy,” he said. “Throwing that game into the schedule the way the league did after that game was postponed and then going back to Denver — three games in four nights, with two of those games being in Denver going back and forth. We’re not going to put our high-minutes guys at risk.”
If recent history is any indication, the Warriors likely will need to be firing on all cylinders to dispatch the Clippers. Los Angeles took Golden State to the wire before losing 115-113 in its only previous trip to San Francisco in the first week of the season.
Ivica Zubac #40 celebrates with Reggie Jackson #1 of the LA Clippers against the Los Angeles Lakers in the third quarter at Crypto.com Arena on March 03, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Ronald Martinez/Getty Images/AFP
The loss was just Los Angeles’ second in five visits to the 2 1/2-year-old Chase Center, where the Clippers ran up 141, 131 and 108 points in earlier triumphs.
Los Angeles hasn’t played since a 116-93 home loss to the New York Knicks on Sunday that snapped a five-game winning streak.
Isaiah Hartenstein, Amir Coffey and Semi Ojeleye have been among the surprise contributors as Clippers coach Tyronn Lue has searched for new ways of dealing with the long-term absences of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
“I try anything, man, because I don’t care,” the coach proudly proclaimed. “I don’t care what people think. I don’t care what y’all write and what y’all say. I just do what I believe that’s gonna work and what’s right.
“It’s something you work on every day and you live by that, and your team understands that, and you go out and do it. And (when) it doesn’t work, then you can live with that because that’s what you work on, that’s your philosophy.”
Terance Mann led the way with 25 points when the Clippers thrashed the Warriors 119-104 in the teams’ most recent meeting, on Feb. 14 in Los Angeles. Curry scored a game-high 33 points.
