HOUSTON - With Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Rockets hours away and Kevin Durant shelved for the series, Steve Kerr isn't ruling out any possibilities with the lineup.
"I would say everything's on the table tonight," Kerr said following Friday's shootaround at the Toyota Center.
Kerr's biggest lineup decision will be who will start in place of the injured Durant. In games the star forward has missed in the regular season, Kerr has elected to start Alfonzo McKinnie in his place. However, with McKinnie gaining a bench role in the rotation, it's unlikely Kerr would elect to break up those minutes.
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SIGN UP HERE A plausible guess would be journeyman forward Jonas Jerebko, as it would keep the normal rotation in place while staying true with a practice Kerr has maintained throughout his coaching tenure.
Following shootaround, Kerr said his coaching staff went over the lineup during a bumpy three-hour flight from the Bay Area. While he didn't reveal any plans, Kerr acknowledged that he'll lean on both Jerebko and McKinnie Friday evening.
"Well, we'll need minutes from both of them and we'll see how the game goes," Kerr said. "You know, everything depends on foul trouble. Depends on what's happening in the game."
Following Durant's injury in Game 5, Curry scored 16 of his 25 points over the last 16 minutes of the game, including two 3-pointers. Over the stretch, Golden State outscored Houston 39-36, with the help of defensive contributions from Draymond Green and Kevon Looney.
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Still, with Durant playing like the league's best player averaging 34.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.9 assists in the playoffs, a large burden will need to be filled.
"It will be very hard to do," Warriors guard Klay Thompson said. "He's such a great rim protector and guarding position just with, you know, being on a string, rotating as a team, not leaving anybody out there on the island and communicating. If you don't do those things should be in a good position to win."
"We obviously got to make adjustments with KD out and we're going to have to do it by committee and a lot of guys are going to have an opportunity tonight to fill those minutes and make an impact on the floor," Curry added. "But at the end of the day, 48 minutes, everybody wants to win, come in swinging tonight, play aggressive, play confident, and do what we do."
Wednesday's performance down the stretch sparked some nostalgia of Golden State teams in the pre-Durant era, marked by a free-flowing offense led by Curry. And while the eye test will tell you the Warriors are better with Durant, the numbers tell a different tale.
According to NBC Sports' Tom Haberstroh, in the 923 minutes Curry, Thompson and Green were on the floor without Durant, Golden State posted a plus-13.4 net rating.
"We have great chemistry," Thompson said. "Years of playing together. So I'll just, you know, lean on what we've done in the past and you don't take those experiences and try and channel them tonight."
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Even with the confidence, Golden State knows it will take a monumental effort Friday evening without their best player.
"And at the end of the day, our principle pretty much stays the same," Curry said. "We got to defend at a high level, take care of the basketball, every possession try to search for the best shot, and we should be in good shape.