SAN FRANCISCO — The Golden State Warriors rested Stephen Curry on Tuesday night in their 104-93 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr was adamant that his superstar point guard was “exhausted” after Curry shot 6-for-21 and finished with 20 points, 7 assists and 7 turnovers in Monday’s 114-105 loss to the Denver Nuggets at Chase Center.
Curry said he was fine but that a right low back strain had been an issue he has been managing since he felt something in pregame warmups Thursday before facing the Sacramento Kings.
“I feel fine,” Curry said. “Obviously, I didn’t play great at all, so everybody’s, including coach … going to try to figure out why, and mostly the turnovers, dumb plays all night. But [we] had a really good run. You expect to have a level of consistency and whatnot, so when it doesn’t happen becomes a question.
“I feel like [it is] more so my back when I was dealing with the last couple of days, see how that responds, but otherwise feel pretty solid.”
Curry was listed on the injury report as out due to rest. Since the start of February, Curry has scored 20 or more points in 18 of his past 20 games.
“He’s exhausted right now,” Kerr said late Monday night. “So we’ve got to absolutely consider giving him a night and getting him rejuvenated for the sake of him and the remainder of our games. I think he’s been tired the last few games, and so we’ve got to find a way to get him his juice back.”
The Warriors did receive a boost from guard Brandin Podziemski against the Bucks. Though he was listed as questionable earlier in the day and had missed the past five games with a lower back strain, Kerr, in his pregame media availability, said Podziemski would likely play around 25 minutes.
He was close. Podziemski played 29 minutes, scoring 17 points in the win.