SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors lost their fourth straight game, to Minnesota, on Tuesday night. Steph Curry sat out while injured. Klay Thompson and Draymond Green were ejected before a point was even scored — and a suspension may be imminent for the latter as the Warriors are still trying to find their flow.
But no frustration could be read on coach Steve Kerr’s face after the game, just satisfaction.
“It was just an amazing performance by our guys, to be so shorthanded and to fight and compete the way they did,” Kerr said. “It was just beautiful to watch.”
The moral victory in this loss: The Warriors found ways to score without Curry on the court. And rookie Brandin Podziemski may have taken the lead, for now, as a much-needed source for buckets. He became the first non-Curry Warrior to score more than 20 points this season — 23 points while shooting 3-for-8 from 3, with seven rebounds and five assists against the NBA’s No. 1 defense in a career-high 39 minutes. He even had a banked, buzzer-beating 3-pointer to close out the third quarter.
That seems to be enough to earn him a full-time job.
“He’s gonna play,” Kerr said. “He’s going to play every night.
“In order to win in the NBA, obviously you have to have talent, but you have to have energy. You have to bring something to the table life-wise, joy-wise, energy-wise, competitiveness-wise. And that’s what I watched tonight from the whole group.
“Clearly, Brandin has that. That’s pretty obvious. And our fans have watched this team win four championships. They weren’t won by a bunch of pouters and wallflowers. They were won by gamers, competitors, guys who brought energy and joy and passion to everything. And that’s what it takes. So that’s what I’m looking for.”
The Warriors’ lack of a second scorer has been a consistent issue through the 6-2 start and the four-game skid alike. With Andrew Wiggins missing bunny layups and shooting 15% from 3, Thompson taking fewer shot attempts and Chris Paul still looking for his mid-range shot as he adjusts to life on and off the bench, all six wins mostly came down to Curry’s heroics.
Curry flurries separate the Warriors from the rest, but a smaller, older team built to outsmart opponents and space the floor has to make shots to keep defenses honest. Otherwise, they get congested on offense and “drive into the paint with no plan” as Green put it, after their first loss to the Timberwolves.
Jordan Poole may be remembered around Warriors world for his late-game turnovers or ill-timed heat checks, but at his best over his final two seasons he averaged 19.5 points per game shooting 35% from 3 on 7.7 attempts per game. The Warriors need someone to fill that void.
Podziemski did something of a Poole impression on Tuesday, challenging the Timberwolves’ length. He hit floaters, took a few 3-pointers and drove to the rim for a few and-1 makes around or over the outstretched arms of their 7-foot duo of Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert. It was a stunner given how Podziemski had approached his five previous stints as more of a passer and high-flying rebounder.
“That’s what the game called for,” Podziemski said. “With the guys being out there, me and Chris (Paul) were the main scorers out there. That is what the game called for. Some games I will get one shot and some games I will get 18 like I did tonight.
“I talked to 30 (Curry) about it and he said every shot I took tonight was a great shot. That is what the game called for and we go from there.”
Podziemski got the verbal seal of approval from Kerr, but it’s unclear where his minutes will be carved out. He’s the team’s backup point guard playing behind two future Hall of Famers in Paul and Curry, which means he may need to play out of position, like he did on Tuesday alongside Paul. Still, the backcourt minutes are mostly occupied with Thompson and Moses Moody in the fold. Moody’s minutes have dwindled since the season’s start — he was a minus-12 in 14 minutes on Tuesday.
But desperate times call for some gutsy decisions. And in the wake of last year’s disappointing run — no matter how much Kerr wants to erase the past — there’s clear urgency to act on the hot hand and honor what wins.
“We talk about it all the time, we don’t have some regular rookies,” Paul said. “We got some guys who pay attention, know what they’re doing. To be on a team like this, this early in the season playing valuable minutes in big games, it’s only going to be good in the long haul.
“Sometimes you only learn by experience. The best thing about being a rookie is you don’t know anything different. You just play hard. And whatever happens, happens. And we need that with this team.”
