SAN FRANCISCO – Less than half an hour after the shorthanded Warriors lost to the visiting San Antonio Spurs at Chase Center on Wednesday night, what is usually a bustling postgame locker room was uncharacteristically quiet.
Among the first to leave was the gregarious Gary Payton II, who quickly got dressed, grabbed his belongings and wished teammates and media to “have a great All-Star break” before exiting the premises.
Such was the overall mood in the locker room: ready to begin the long-awaited midseason break and longing for the benefits the seven-day layoff would bring.
Longtime coach Steve Kerr was the first to acknowledge that his Warriors could use a rest rest.
“We’ve got a chance to get recharged here over the break,” Kerr said. “We’ve got plenty to play for. Obviously we’ll have to incorporate Kristaps (Porzingis), get Steph (Curry) back. I feel like we can be a really good team and I feel like our guys are showing why with the way they’re competing, and moving the ball, and playing together.”
As he alluded to, Golden State expects Curry to return from an absence forced by his runner’s knee ailment and new center Porzingis to join the lineup as he works back from postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, an illness that affects his heart rate.
Porzingis was the lone addition for the team during last week’s trade deadline that sent Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield to Atlanta in exchange for the Latvian big man.
In addition to giving the Warriors time to get Porzingis up to speed in San Francisco, where he will remain during the break, the rest of his teammates should benefit from the break in the action.
Breakthrough guard Pat Spencer, no spring chicken by NBA standards at 29, acknowledged that the Warriors are not a young team.
Among those with old legs are Curry (37), Draymond Green (35), Al Horford (39), Seth Curry (35) and Payton (33). Giving the millennial cohort a chance to put a pause on physically taxing basketball games can only help the Warriors.
“For us, it’s just about getting healthy,” Spencer said, adding that they will be “a totally different ball club” with Curry and Porzingis on the court.
The Warriors find themselves in decent shape going into the break. They are 29-26, the eighth seed in a conference where the teams below them shipped off talent at the trade deadline and appear dead-set on tanking.
Meanwhile, the Warriors doubled down on adding win-now talent in the form of Porzingis, and can still claim to have a deep playoff run as a goal once the team returns to action on Feb. 19 against the Celtics.
Even with Jimmy Butler lost for the year with an ACL tear and the rest of their stars on the older side, the rest of the squad believes that after a nice rest, they can go on a run similar to last year.
The Warriors went 23-8 to end the regular season after acquiring Butler, and with 27 games remaining this season, they hope to repeat that history.
“I think the biggest thing is just reflecting on where we can get better, what we can do, and we know we’re still a great team,” guard De’Anthony Melton said. “We know we can beat pretty much any team. So just got to figure those things out and just stay more dialed in.”