The only reason the Kings are still in this series is they have absolutely torched the Warriors when Curry has been on the bench. In 34 minutes of action (out of a possible 192) with Curry off the court, the Kings have outscored the Warriors by 38 points.
In Game 1, Golden State outscored Sacramento by 11 points in the 37:25 Curry played. In the 10:35 he sat, the Kings outscored the Warriors by 14 points.
Numbers like that have naturally tempted Warriors coach Steve Kerr to keep Curry in games longer.
In Game 2, Kerr kept Curry on the court for 40 minutes and 46 seconds. The Warriors won those minutes by 3 points. As for the other 7 minutes and 14 seconds? The Kings won those by 11 points (and won the game by 8).
The trend continued in Game 4, when Curry played a season-high 42:42. The Warriors won those minutes by 7 points, but lost the other 5:18 by 6 points.
In the glory days of the Warriors' dynasty, their motto was "Strength in Numbers." The bench lineups were bolstered by reliable veterans such as
Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston and David West. Even last season, Curry averaged less than 35 minutes per game in the postseason. Kerr can't afford to let him rest that much with this year's bench, which is reliant on a core of
Donte DiVincenzo,
Gary Payton II,
Moses Moody, and
Jonathan Kuminga, who have not been up to the task yet this series.
Keeping
Draymond Green in
the bench role he played in Game 4 could help in the non-Curry minutes. With Curry off the floor, the Warriors' offense averaged 110.4 points per 100 possessions this season. But when Green has been in games without Curry that figure jumps to 115, while the defense has allowed only 109 per 100 possessions with Green in and Curry out. That's encouraging.