"They just thought the way Steph was going, with Jimmy out there, we were going to score," Kerr said. "That was my biggest concern: Can we execute? And they just reminded me: We have Steph and Jimmy. They'll find a way to score. And they did. It was fantastic to watch the defense with that kind of size and length."
"They were having their way with us throughout the game ... we just couldn't stop them," Kerr said. "And so we felt like to win the game, we were going to have to get our best defensive lineup on the floor, our most athletic lineup."
The Warriors deployed an untested five-man lineup of Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Jimmy Butler, Jonathan Kuminga and Al Horford late in the fourth quarter and through overtime. The change came while trailing by as many as 14 points against the Denver Nuggets, who received 50 points from Aaron Gordon. Assistants Terry Stotts and Chris DeMarco suggested the substitution during a timeout. That lineup closed the final 8 minutes, 50 seconds, outscored Denver 28-15 after Green entered, and helped convert a 116-109 deficit into a 137-131 overtime victory by combining scoring and added defensive size.
Read at The Mercury News
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