Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is down for an anything goes mentality after losing leading scorer Kevin Durant for the last 14 minutes of Game 5 and the remainder of the series. The helmsman noted that “everything is on the table” for Friday's Game 6, including some vital minutes from bench cogs like Alfonzo McKinnie and Jonas Jerebko:
“We'll need minutes from both of them,” said Kerr of McKinnie and Jerebko. “We'll see how the game goes. Everything depends on foul trouble, depends on what's happening in the game. I would say everything is on the table tonight.”
Steve Kerr says #Warriors will need minutes from Alfonzo McKinnie & Jonas Jerebko tonight & added “everything’s on the table” as far as who might see action w/KD out. pic.twitter.com/tNX68XzfTh
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) May 10, 2019
It's unlikely that Kerr will reveal his starting lineup coming into a very important Game 6 on the road, but he has a few options from his bench, though none that can supplant a top-three player like Durant.
If Kerr is hoping to crash the boards and give the Warriors a retro-like look, Andrew Bogut could come in as the starting center, giving the Warriors some rim protection and potential for offensive rebounds while creating screens for open shooters.
The 7-footer could be at a disadvantage with a smaller Rockets lineup, forced to contest long 3-pointers and at times get caught in one-on-one matchups with James Harden.
Another option would be to bring in McKinnie at power forward to match up against the Rockets' smalls, but his offensive contributions have been subpar so far, making it a tough choice to trust from the get-go.
Kerr stressed that Kevon Looney would be vital in this game, but he isn't a player to trot out for 30 minutes, so it's likely he remains on the bench to give the second unit some balance, or perhaps he starts while getting the quick hook for other hybrid combinations.
Whatever the case, this will surely be one hell of a test of Kerr's ingenuity to pull off a win without his lone one-on-one assassin for the rest of this series.
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