Warriors’ depth, Strength In Numbers 2.0 on display by Steve Kerr

Kerr displays Warriors’ latest version of Strength In Numbers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea

SAN FRANCISCO — Prior to the Warriors’ 123-109 season-opening win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night at Chase Center, Steve Kerr made it clear he didn’t expect Klay Thompson or Draymond Green to flirt with playing 30 minutes. Steph Curry, Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole were good to race up and down the floor, but Green and Thompson still had a ways to go.

Part of that of course is circumstance. Thompson only played one preseason game while overcoming a mental block of scrimmaging and playing pickup games, and the training staff was focused on strengthening his right calf. Green missed two preseason games while he stayed away from the team after his practice incident with Poole.

Tuesday night also might have been a precursor of how this season will play out, both in the preservation of the Warriors’ veterans and Kerr digging into his depth.

“We’ll have to ease into it a little bit, but we’re planning on playing a lot of people anyway this year,” Kerr said before the win. “We’ve got a lot of depth and we want to use it, so we’ve got to be able to rely on it here tonight and the first couple weeks of the season.”

Kerr didn’t waste any time. He sent 10 players out on the floor in the first quarter alone. Poole was the first off the bench, coming in for Thompson with a little over seven minutes left. He was followed by James Wiseman and JaMychal Green entering the game for Draymond and Kevon Looney. A little over a minute later, Jonathan Kuminga replaced Wiggins. Soon after, Donte DiVincenzo entered for Curry.

The 11th man off the bench was Moses Moody, who finally saw action less than two minutes into the second quarter. On the second offensive possession he was part of and the first time he let it fly, he swished a corner 3-pointer. That’s a shot he thrived taking during the preseason.

Story continues

Moody throughout the preseason was one of the first…