The Golden State Warriors are following in the tradition of the San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and, more recently, the Memphis Grizzlies and resting their starters tonight against the Denver Nuggets.
“(Andrew) Bogut, (Andre) Iguodala, Steph (Curry) and Klay (Thompson) are all going to sit tonight,” Steve Kerr said this morning at shootaround. “Based on the schedule, based on Steph and Klay needing a rest. Everything that we’ve looked at the last couple weeks, both with the schedule and extensive used of the Catapult system and SportVU and everything else we have access to, it says they need a rest.”
The Warriors have rested Bogut and Iguodala all year as part of a schedule, but this is one of the first times the Warriors have held out Thomspon and Curry solely for rest.
When asked if Kerr preferred to rest his stars on the road instead of at home, he was surprisingly candid with his response. “I prefer doing it on the road because our fans pay good money to see us play,” Kerr said. “I know there are people in Denver who want to see Steph and Klay play, but unfortunately we can’t base our own team’s welfare on that, but we can at least sway it on the side of our own fans.”
Last night, against the Washington Wizards, the Memphis Grizzlies rested Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph, Tony Allen and Mike Conley. While Conley was nursing an ankle injury, Gasol and Randolph were held out solely for rest. Kerr said he didn’t pay any attention to that, but was doing this “based on what was necessary for our team and right now, I can see the fatigue.”
Kerr cited Thompson and Curry’s seemingly non-stop schedule, going from Team USA right into training, then into the regular season and then into the All-Star weekend, which Kerr called the “least-relaxing three days of the entire season.”
Resting players is nothing new, but it’s become a more ubiquitous strategy around the league as teams delve into the benefits of proper sleep and rest.
“Anyone says there’s no scientific evidence to back (resting), I have my own evidence that will prove our theory,” Kerr said.
