5:02 pm | March 24, 2019 | Go to Source | Author:
OAKLAND, Calif. — Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said Sunday that he wants his team to clinch the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs and secure home-court advantage in the team’s final season at Oracle Arena. But as his group heads into its final 10 regular-season games, the overall health of the group will take priority over any playoff positioning.
“Health always comes first,” Kerr said prior to Sunday’s game against the Detroit Pistons. “So each player we look at individually.”
With that in mind, the Warriors will rest DeMarcus Cousins and veteran Andre Iguodala on Sunday on the second night of a back-to-back against the Pistons. This comes the night after Kerr, along with consultation from Rick Celebrini, the team’s director of sports medicine and performance, decided to rest guard Stephen Curry and veteran Shaun Livingston.
Kerr noted before Sunday’s game that Cousins, who is still recovering from a left Achilles injury sustained last season, will not play in both sets of a back-to-back the rest of the season. (The Warriors have two more back-to-backs.)
“With DeMarcus, we made the decision based on Rick’s assessment [that] he should just not play back-to-backs this season, so he’s not going to,” Kerr said. “Andre and Shaun, both periodically we’ve been given rest to the last several years, based on the age and wear and tear. Every once in a while, it’ll just come up that Rick will recommend let’s give somebody a rest. Last night it was Steph. He’s been going a couple months straight. Has looked a little tired the last couple of weeks, so it made perfect sense. I think we’ll be better for it in the long run. So within all that, we try to win.”