HSFC_2017_01_11

(Jacob Rumans) #1

B6| Wednesday,January 11, 2017|SFChronicle.com XXXXX••


NBA


Threeyearsago,enteringhis
firstseasonastheWarriors’
headcoach,SteveKerrtriedto
mapoutwhichdaystoresthis
coreplayers.
“IthoughtIwasbeingreally
smart,”Kerrrecalledbefore
Tuesdaynight’s gameagainst
Miami.


Asthatmaidenseasonun-
folded,Kerrrecognizedhisown
naivete:Itisimpossibletopre-
dictwhensomeonewillneeda
nightoff.Developmentslike
Tuesday’s,whenKerrrested
KlayThompsonafterwatch-
ingThompsonplaythrough
illnesstheprevioustwogames,
arejustpartoftherandomness
thatcomeswiththeNBAgrind.

Itmarkedthefirsttimethis
seasonKerrhadgivenoneofhis
fourcoreplayers— Thompson,
StephenCurry,KevinDurant
andDraymondGreen—a
nightoff.Previously,resthad
beenreservedforelderstates-
menDavidWest,AndreIguo-
dalaandShau nLivingston.
Inthesixweeksuntilthe
All-Starbreak,astretchcom-
monlydeemedthe“dogda ys”of
the82-gameregularseason,Kerr
saidhe“won’thesitate”torest
playerswhoneedit.Justdo n’t
expecthimtostartcirclingpo-
tentialrestdaysonhiscalendar.
“Ican’tpredictit,butIcansay
therearecertaintimeswhen
you’reworndown,”Kerrsaid.

“IfIseethatwithsomeoneelse,
I’llsitthatguy, too.”

Thinbackcourt:Kerrlea ves
questionsaboutpersonnel
movesto generalmanagerBob
Myers. ButwiththeNBA’sFeb.
23tradedeadlinenearing,Kerr
iswillingtoadmitonething:
Theba ckcourtcouldusemore
depth.
WithPatrick McCawreplac-
ingThompsoninthestarting
lineupTuesday, theWarriors
hadonlytwobackupguards:
LivingstonandIanClark.
“Wearealittlevulnerable,”
Kerrsaidbeforethegame.“Ifwe
happentogetanotherinjury
tonightwhileKlay’salready

sittingout,yeah,we’revul-
nerable.Thatissomethingthat
wetalkaboutandthinkabout.”

WhiteHouse:Thepolarizing
natureofPresident-electDon-
aldTrumpraisesacoupleof
intriguingquestions:IfGolden
StatewinsanotherNBAtitle
thisseason,wouldtheteam
makeitscustomaryvisittothe
Whit eHouse? Howwould
coachesreactifplayersdidn’t
wanttoattend?
“Icertainlyhopethatwehave
toha vethat decisiontomake,”
Kerrsaidwithasmile.

ConnorLetourneauisaSan
FranciscoChroniclestaffwriter.

WARRIORS BEAT


Kerr ‘won’t hesitate’


to rest more players


By ConnorLetourneau


ishedwith28pointsandeight
rebounds.“Butweadjusted.”
AfterwatchingThompson
playthroughillnessintwo
straightgames,headcoach
Stev eKerrrestedhiscatch-and-
shootmaestroTuesday. Itwasa
calculatedrisk:Bysitting
againsttheNBA’ssecond-worst
team,Thompsonwouldbe
betterpreparedforCleveland,
OklahomaCityandHouston
nextweek.
TheHeat exposedjusthow
importantheistoGolden
State’ sfree-flowingsystem.
WithoutThompsontostretch
thefloor,Durantfacedmore
double-teamsandslogged
througharoughstart.Nothav-
ingThompsontoguardMiami’s
shootersalsolefttheWarriors
lessversatiledefensivelyand
contributedtoopendriving
lanes.Miamiattackedtherimat


willforstretchesandfinished
32-for-59(54.2percent)ontwo-
pointattempts.
Withaboutaminuteonthe
gameclock,St ephenCurry
pokedtheballaway fromMi-
ami’s HassanWhit eside.Zaza
Pachuliadi vedforthelooseball
andhitCurry, whofoundAn-
dreIguodalainstridefora
tomahawkdunk. TheHeat
calledfortime,butthescore-
boardabove—GoldenState
102, Miami89—sugg estedtheir
upsetbidhadbeenthwarted.
Durant(28points,eightre-
bounds),Curry(24points,eight
rebounds,nineassists)and
DraymondGreen(13points,
ninerebounds)helpedthe
Warriorswithstanda28-point,
20-reboundclinicbyWhit e-
side.A34-12adva ntagein fast-
breakpointsallowedGolden
Stateto overcomethefactthat
percentoftheHeat ’s points
cameinthepaint.
“Theycanputuppointsina
hurry,”MiamiheadcoachErik
Spoelstrasaid.“Theycanget
youba ckpedaling,scrambling
allthewaytothethree-point
line.”
ThoughtheWarriorsentered
TuesdaywithanNBA-best
per-gamepointmarginof
plus-11.8,theyhadwononly
twooftheirpreviouseight
gamesbydoubledigits.Friday’s
overtimelosstoMemphis,in
whichGoldenStatesquandered
a24-point,second-halflead,
reinforcedanimportanttruth:
Forthe Warriorstoreachtheir
long-termgoals,they’llneed
theirefforttomatchtheirtalent.
Twonig htsafterovercoming
afirs t-halfmalaisetowinin
Sacramento,GoldenStateagain
openedlackad aisicallyTues-
day. TheHeat feastedonopen
looks.Inthewaningsecondsof
thefirstquarter,Miami’s James
Johnsonslicedpasttwodefend-
ers,tookonegiantstrideinto
thekeyandposterizedCurryon
atwo-handeddunk.
Curry, flatonhisback,raised
hisarmstosignalhisdesirefor
achargingcall.Nonecame.

Afterdiggingadouble-digit
hole, Miamiuseda17-6runto
retaketheleadlateinthesecond
quarter.Thirty-sixofits
pointshadcomeinthepaintby
thetimetheHeat enteredhalf-
timeuponepoint.
Inthethirdquarter,theWar-
riorstighteneddefensivelyand
heldtheHeat to5-for-20shoot-
ing.Durantfollowedupafor-
gettablefirsthalfwith10third-
quarterpoints.Thankstoa10-
spurt,GoldenStatecreated
somedistance.
“Wedidadecentjobdefen-

sively,especiallyinthethird
quarter,”Iguodalasaid.“Forus,
Ifeellikedefensivelyweneedto
lockin,continuetoimproveon
thatendandthat’llleadtoa
better-flowingoffense.”
Miami,surelyinspiredbythe
chanceofastatementwin,cut
itsdeficittothreepointsmid-
waythroughthefourth.Ian
Clarkhitathree-pointer,and
theWarriorsstrungtogether
stops.Iguodala’sdunkwith57.
secondsleftcappeda17-7Gold-
enStaterall y, effectivelysecur-
ingits13thwinin15games.

Still,onethingwasclear
Tuesday:TheWarriorswillbea
muchbetterteam,onoffense
anddefense,whentheywel-
comeThompsonbackThurs-
day againstDetroit.
“We definitelymissedhim,”
Durantsaid.“Hopefully, he’s
restedupandreadyforthenext
game.”

ConnorLetourneauisaSan
FranciscoChroniclestaffwriter.
Email:cletourneau@
sfchronicle.comTwitter:
@Con_Chron

ScottStrazzante /The Chronicle
ForwardKevin Durant,shootingagainstMiami’s James Johnson inthe first quarter, ledthe
Warriors with 28 points.He’s averaging 26 pointsthis season inabout 35 minutes pergame.

No Thompson


means having


to work harder


Warriorsfrom page B


The Milwaukee Buckshad
little toshow for theirattempts
to improve in late-game situa-
tions this season.
Until they took on San Anto-
nio.
Michael Beasley scored a
season-high 28 points in place
of an illGiannis Antetokounm-
po, and theBucksrallied to
beat the Spurs 109-107 on Tues-
day night.
Milwaukee erased a six-
pointdeficit in the final five
minutes to snap San Antonio’s
nine-game home winstreak.
“We were owed this game,”
said Jabari Park er, who had 22
points and seven rebounds.
“We’ve had so many opportuni-
ties when we let (them slip ) out
of our hands, but this game
reallygot us over thathurdle
that we’ve been asking for the
past two months.”
Coming off a third-quarter
swoon in a 107-101 loss Sunday
to Washington,Milwaukee
made it through another tough

fourthquarter.
“I think this gameshowed a
lot ofcharacter and resilience,”
Beasley said. “Itshowed that
we are working.”
Despitegetting little from
Antetokounmpo, theBucks
overcameKawhi Leonard’s 30
points and a 13-pointdeficit in
the first half.
Antetokounmpo,who
missedMilwaukee’s previous
game,starteddespite having a
fever at morningshootaround.
He was scoreless for the first
time this season, missing his
only threeattempts.
Jazz 100,Cavaliers 92 :Gordon
Haywardwenttoe-to-toe withLeBron
James in the second halftohelp host
Utah beatCleveland. Hayward had 22
points andwent back andforth with
James in a decisive third quarter.
James brought theCavaliers back
from a 15-point halftime deficit before
Hayward drovetheleadbackto14.
James finished with 29 points.
Kings 100, Pistons 94:DeMarcus
Cousins had 24 points, 13rebounds
and sixassiststohelp hostSacra-
mentorally from a nine-point deficit
tostart thefourth quarter.
Trail Blazers 108,Lakers87:C.J.

McCollum scored25 points and
visitingPortland used a dominant
third quartertodefeat Los Angelesfor
the 10thconsecutive time.
Raptors 114,Celtics 106:DeMar
DeRozan scoreda season-high 41
points,KyleLowry had 24 and host
Torontoralliedtoend Boston’sfour-
game winningstreak.
Rockets 121, Hornets 114:James
Harden had 40 points, 15rebounds
and 10assistsfor his secondconsec-
utive triple-double,and host Houston
outlasted Charlotte for its ninth
straight win.
Wizards 101, Bulls 99:JohnWall
scored26 points, including agame-
winning baseline jumper with 5.
secondsleft, andadded 14 assistsas
hostWashington moved above.
bydefeating Chicago.
Hawks 117,Nets97:DennisSchroder
had 19 points and 10assists, Dwight
Howardadded 14 points and 16
rebounds, and visitingAtlanta beat
skidding Brooklyn towin its season-
high seventhstraight.
Rosereturns:DerrickRosereturned
topractice with theKnicksafter
missing theirgame Monday nightfor
what he describedasfamilyreasons.
The teamlater announcedhe had
been finedfor missing the 110-96loss
toNew Orleans andsaid hewas
expectedtobe in uniformWednesday
night in Philadelphia.

Kin Man Hui /San AntonioExpress-News

The Bucks’ Mich ael Beasle y, who scored a season-high 28
points,shoots againstthe Spurs’ Jonathan Simmons.


ROUNDUP


Bucks rally past San Antonio


ASSOCIATED PRESS

Warriors 107,Heat 95


Miami....................29 25 14 27—9 5
Warriors..................27 26 26 28—1 07


MIAMI
FG FT Reb
Min M-AM-A O-TAPF Pts
Babbitt1 81 -6 0-0 0-1 00 2
Whiteside 37 13-17 2-3 3-20 2328
Dragic 38 7-16 1-1 0-2 4217
McGruder 32 0-4 1-2 1-6 23 1
Waiters 38 4-17 0-0 0-3 84 8
T.Johnson 30 6-11 3-4 1-7 3318
J.Johnson 30 6-14 1-2 0-2 6414
Reed 11 1-3 2-2 0-4 02 4
Ellington70-1 3-3 0-0 01 3
Totals 240 38-89 13-17 5-45 2522 95
Percentages:FG.427, FT .765.3-Point Goals:6-30,
.200 (T.Johnson 3-8, Dragic 2-5, J.Johnson 1-7, Ellington
0-1, McGruder 0-1, Babbitt 0-3,Waiters 0-5).TeamRe-
bounds:4.TeamTurnovers:11 (0PTS).Blocked shots:
4 (Whiteside 2, McGruder,Reed).Turnovers:11 (White-
side 4, Dragic 3, J.Johnson 2,Reed,Waiters).Steals: 6
(J.Johnson 2,Waiters 2, Dragic, Whiteside).Technical
fouls:Defensive threesecond, 7:22 first;team, 7:22 first.


WARRIORS
FG FT Reb
Min M-AM-A O-TAPF Pts
Durant 37 10-21 5-5 1-8 0228
Green 36 4-11 5-6 0-9 5013
Pachulia 24 3-5 2-2 1-6 33 8
Curry 36 8-21 4-5 1-8 9024
McCaw 19 1-3 0-0 0-3 04 3
Iguodala2 94 -6 0-0 1-5 40 9
Clark 22 4-9 0-0 0-1 3310
Livingston 18 3-5 2-4 0-0 13 8
West 12 1-4 0-0 1-5 30 2
McGee 91 -1 0-0 0-3 01 2
McAdoo 00 -0 0-0 0-0 00 0
Totals 240 39-86 18-22 5-48 2816107
Percentages:FG.453, FT .818.3-Point Goals:11-27,
.407(Curry 4-11, Durant 3-6,Clark 2-3, Iguodala 1-2,
McCaw1-2, Green 0-3).TeamRebounds:9.TeamTurn-
overs:11 (0PTS).Blocked shots:7 (Durant 2, Green 2,
McGee 2,Curry).Turnovers: 11 (Curry 4,Pachulia 2,Clark,
Durant, Green, McCaw, McGee).Steals:6 (Green 2,Curry,
Durant,Pachulia,West).Technicalfouls:None.
Officials:Courtney Kirkland, Mitchell Ervin,KarlLane

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