TORONTO — DeMarcus Cousins, four-time All-Star, starter in the Warriors’ last three NBA Finals games, played zero seconds in the first quarter of Game 5.
Kevin Durant’s return relegated Cousins to the bench, where he might’ve belonged anyway after his last two games of stumbling and bumbling in a pair of Warriors losses.
Steve Kerr removing Cousins from the starting lineup was reasonable, but Cousins didn’t even start the second quarter with the Warriors’ second unit. Kerr chose Andrew Bogut for that role instead. At that point, it was clear Cousins would only receive spot minutes in Game 5, if those.