The Warriors will be starting their fourth point guard in 25 games Wednesday night when former Duke star Quinn Cook replaces Stephen Curry in the starting lineup Wednesday night against the Charlotte Hornets.
There are three clear reasons for this.
The first is to more closely monitor the minutes of veteran backup Shaun Livingston, who is at his best when playing between 15 and 22 minutes.
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The second is that Warriors coach Steve Kerr fully understands this and also makes every effort to keep his reserve rotations intact. Livingston generally opens the second and fourth quarters. That could change, because he’s likely to be in the closing lineup.
The third reason is based purely on matchups. Cook, who has been playing well with the G-League Santa Cruz Warriors, stands 6-foot-2, roughly the same height as star Hornets point guard Kemba Walker, who is listed at 6-1.
Kerr indicated Wednesday morning that as the Warriors proceed without Curry he would be flexible with his starting lineups, particularly at point guard.
“It might be a game-to-game thing, based on matchups,” Kerr said.
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“We’ll look at all of our options. We can mix and match. We’re not necessarily going to have the same lineup, night in and night out while Steph is out.”
In short, Kerr will be choosing among Pat McCaw (at 6-7), Cook and Livingston (also 6-7) to start games during Curry’s absence. McCaw will be sidelined Wednesday night with a nose contusion.