Golden State Warriors 5 keys to series vs. Spurs

4. Resist the temptation to overwork the remaining stars

On the one hand, the Golden State Warriors are flush with talent as the only team in the league that could lose a superstar and still trot out three All-Stars. For a team that is used to leaning on that many stars, the temptation will be there to continue leaning on them — for increasingly longer stretches of time.

In the playoffs, minutes are increased, rotations are shortened and the stars are relied on more. Kerr is playing the long game here though, and he needs to do everything he can to put a fully healthy, star-laden squad on the court in two rounds from now.

That means relying a little more on Quinn Cook, on Kevon Looney, on Nick Young, even. The stars on this team are really good, but they are also really important to the Warriors’ ultimate success. Another player going down would cripple their chances of winning the title.

That is not to say that Kerr shouldn’t try to win games, or that he’ll ever be able to protect his players from injury short of wrapping them with bubble wrap and not playing them. But keeping their minutes at a conservative number whenever possible should be the course of choice.