With Stephen Curry sidelined for Game 3, the Golden State Warriors nearly pulled off a comeback victory over the Houston Rockets, but fell just short of their goal. With just two seconds left in the fourth quarter, James Harden buried a mid-range pull-up to put his team ahead, and Draymond Green fumbled away the Warriors' last possession.
Big games were expected from Green and Klay Thompson with Curry resting, but both All-Stars struggled from the field and could not come up with the big shots down the stretch. Surprisingly, the guys who could Ian Clark and Marreese Speights, a pair of reserves who averaged just over 20 minutes per game between them in the regular season.
After being the best players on the floor for the Warriors on Thursday, have they earned more minutes?
Has Clark carved out a role?
Clark would be a top backup option on several teams in the NBA, but Golden State is not one of them with veterans Shaun Livingston and Leandro Barbosa filling those backcourt roles to perfection. Livingston's job as the Warriors' second-string point guard (and starter with Curry out) is safe, but Clark could steal some of Barbosa's minutes going forward after putting up 11 points (including a pair of clutch shots) and five assists on Thursday.
Barbosa is in there purely for scoring, so if Clark can continue to knock down shots, he is technically the more well-rounded player. Expect Steve Kerr to ride the hot hand unless the team's offense is looking stagnant (read: needs Barbosa for a spark). If Curry returns, though, Clark will likely see no more than 10 minutes per game.
Mo minutes for Mo Buckets?
Speights had an incredible offensive showing against Houston, leading the team in scoring with 22 points in just 18 minutes. When the sharpshooting forward gets hot, he is one of the team's most potent scorers.
Unfortunately, Speights offers little more than points, as the team gives up a lot on the defensive side of the ball when he is in. When he was on Dwight Howard, the Rockets went to their center almost every time down the floor. If he's going good and the team is struggling to score, though, around 20 minutes is a good place for Speights to be. Any more than that against a team with quality bigs would be too big a risk on Kerr's part.
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