Steve Kerr effectively had to punt on a playoff game with how poorly his team played.
The Golden State Warriors got steamrolled by the Houston Rockets in Wednesday’s Game 5 of their first-round playoff series at Toyota Center in Houston, Tex. They fell behind by 18 points in the very first quarter before the deficit ballooned to 27 points by halftime. The third quarter didn’t go much better for Golden State either as Houston’s lead swelled to 31 at one point.
As a result, the Warriors head coach Kerr pulled a drastic move with just under six minutes left to go in the third and his team still trailing by 29. Kerr pulled his starters (Steph Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Buddy Hield, Jimmy Butler III, and Draymond Green), effectively waving the white flag with roughly 18 minutes still left to play.
Golden State’s second unit finished out the rest of the game, doing a good job of cutting into the lead (at one point getting it down to 13). Houston still hung on to win though 131-116.
The move by Kerr there was probably the right play strategically. The Warriors are one of the oldest teams in the league and (with the exception of the 22-year-old Podziemski) have a starting lineup headlined by players all age 32 or older. The next game is also set for Friday in Golden State, meaning a quick turnaround as well some travel time to factor in.
With Kerr pulling the plug early, he was able to keep all of his starters under 25 minutes played. That matters especially for the 37-year-old Curry and the 35-year-old Butler (who just came back from a painful injury he suffered earlier in the series).
The first-round showdown between the Warriors and the Rockets, who have genuine bad blood with one another, has gotten extremely physical as well. You can’t blame Kerr for not wanting to put his key guys in harm’s way unnecessarily.
