The Golden State Warriors faced a Minnesota Timberwolves team without its best player, Anthony Edwards (foot injury), on Friday night, but failed to come out victorious on their home floor.
Stephen Curry, who missed five consecutive games due to a right quad contusion, was unquestionably the best player on the floor, as he poured in 39 points on 50% field goal shooting and 40% three-point shooting.
Still, it was Julius Randle and the Timberwolves who prevailed 127-120 at the Chase Center.
One of the main storylines from the Dubs’ seven-point defeat was Steve Kerr’s refusal to play Curry’s younger brother, Seth, for a single second.
The Duke product signed with the Warriors on Dec. 1 to improve their perimeter shooting (Curry is a 43.3% career three-point shooter).
However, the brother of the franchise’s four-time NBA champion point guard was a spectator on Friday night, and Kerr provided a confusing 13-word reason as to why that was the case.
“He's (Curry) definitely going to help us at times, but this wasn't his night,” Kerr told reporters after the loss.
Considering the Warriors only connected on 33% of their triples against the Timberwolves, it’s challenging to justify Kerr’s decision to keep Curry on the bench.
Does the 35-year-old veteran need to play 20+ minutes per game every night? No, but it shouldn’t be difficult for Kerr to find minutes for the sharpshooter that the Warriors felt comfortable signing at the beginning of the month.
Curry could have been a difference-maker for the Dubs in their 26th regular-season contest, but Kerr clearly had other plans. It’ll be interesting to see how Kerr manages Curry’s minutes moving forward.
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