OAKLAND, Calif. _ The loud applause and cheers bounced off the walls at Oracle Arena. For once, the reasons did not involve Stephen Curry making a splash of 3-pointers. Instead, the reasons centered on Curry sitting on the Golden State Warriors' bench in street clothes.
If only Curry could give the Warriors fans more reason to cheer. Instead, he appeared oblivious when the Warriors featured Curry on the arena scoreboard. Curry presumably felt frustrated for sitting in the first of at least four games during the Warriors' 117-106 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday at Oracle Arena.
Yet, Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green all sat so Warriors fans would have more important things to cheer about in April, May and June.
"It's helpful to know the big-picture plan. The games that matter, I'll be out there," Curry said. "I have to do the grind work now to get myself back in that position."
And before Curry, Thompson and Green get that back in position, the Warriors managed just fine and improved their record to 1-4 in the rare times both Thompson and Curry have sat in the same game.
The Warriors unsurprisingly leaned on their other All-Star in Kevin Durant, who had 26 points while shooting 10-of-19 from the field, six assists and five rebounds. The Warriors did not just rely on Durant, who had posted a combined 116 points on 37-of-79 shooting in two previous games Curry sat after tweaking his right ankle last week against San Antonio.
The Warriors also had others crack double figures. After going scoreless in the first half, first-time starting shooting guard Nick Young posted 18 points. Warriors veteran guard Omri Casspi added 15 points, while Shaun Livingston added 13. Warriors starting center Zaza Pachulia (10 points, 12 rebounds) recorded a double-double for consecutive games for the first time in two years. Warriors starting point guard Quinn Cook, who went undrafted, had 13. Warriors third-year forward Kevon Looney added a career-high 11 points.
Yet, the Warriors still had another unique advantage that has befuddled most teams. They have turned tight games into lopsided ones with a dominant third-quarter push. With the game tied 55-55 at halftime, the Warriors opened the second half with a 15-4 run. The Warriors maintained a double-digit lead in the second half of the fourth quarter.
"The priority is still the win," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "I'm not coming in here thinking I'm just going to throw young guys out there and whatever happens, happen. We want to win. We should go out there and win. We have enough talent."
As a result, the Warriors (52-16) are 1 { games behind the Houston Rockets (53-14) for the Western Conference's' No. 1 seed.
"It'll be harder, but that's not out of the question," Curry said about chasing the No. 1 seed. "We still got guys willing and able to get out there and help us win games in the meantime."
At what cost, though? The Warriors would not have sat Curry, Thompson or Green if that was the top priority. Nor would have Kerr allocated conservative minutes to Andre Iguodala (22 minutes) and Jordan Bell (19 minutes) after missing the past three games with respective left wrist and left ankle injuries.
"You want to win every night, but you don't do it at the expense of harming guys," Kerr said. "You don't (go) out there with a bad shoulder, bum ankle or broken thumb. But other guys have to go out and compete."
At least for one night, that became enough for the Warriors to finish with the win. The Warriors will have at least three more games without Curry and Thompson on Friday against Sacramento, Saturday in Phoenix and Monday in San Antonio. Yet, David West could return as early as Friday after missing the past four games with a right arm cyst. Green could return on Friday against the Kings, too.
