Golden State Warriors: 3 takeaways from Game 5 vs. Pelicans

3. Jordan Bell minutes encouraging, discouraging

First the good: Steve Kerr played Jordan Bell in non-garbage time. Five minutes and 37 seconds hardly constitutes a return to the rotation, but Bell’s third quarter stretch came in lineups that made sense against a still-engaged opponent.

Now, the bad: Bell looked like he hadn’t played meaningful minutes in over two months. He was overly jumpy, even by his standards. The rhythm, confidence and calm that he built up over the first three months of the season and lost after two sprained ankles cost him 18 games from January to March is still not back.

After messing around early, Kerr has honed in on what types of centers he wants to play. Defense is priority No. 1, as indicated by Kevon Looney ascending above JaVale McGee and Zaza Pachulia in the rotation. Floor running and rim diving are next up, which is why Looney has also played significantly more than David West.

Bell is theoretically better at just about all these things than Looney. He’s certainly more agile defending mismatches, where Looney was dominated by Jrue Holiday and Nikola Mirotic down the stretch of Game 5. Bell is also a massively superior lob threat, which was made clear during his brief stint.

Against the Rockets, his ability to defend in space will be needed. James Harden and Chris Paul will torch Looney on switches, and make no mistake that Houston will seek those out. Green will obviously get the bulk of the center run, but he cannot be on the floor for 48 minutes. One of either Paul or Harden will be, and that makes Bell’s ability to contribute crucial.