
OAKLAND – The “rest nights” for the Warriors are under way, beginning with Shaun Livingston on Sunday.
With the Warriors facing the lowly 76ers at Oracle Arena, Livingston, whose playing time has increased with the absence of Andre Iguodala (sprained left ankle), was excused by coach Steve Kerr.
“(Livingston is) about all we can rest because we’ve got so many guys out,” Kerr explained in his pregame news conference. “Obviously, Andre and Festus (Ezeli) are still out, and (Kevon) Looney as well.
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“But we felt like it was good day to give Shaun a rest because that will have given him about four days in between games by the time Tuesday rolls around.”
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Given Livingston’s medical history, which includes multiple surgeries and overcoming a career-threatening knee injury, the Warriors watch his minutes carefully. They’d like to keep him between 16 and 20 per game, occasionally bumping it up as needed. After averaging 16.5 minutes per game in January and February, he’s averaging 20.1 in March.
Iguodala and Ezeli are progressing, Kerr said, but they’ve yet to scrimmage and won’t play for at least a few more days. Which is one more reason why rest nights will be distributed carefully at least through the upcoming week.
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The Warriors on Tuesday face the Wizards at Oracle Arena before travelling to Utah to face the Jazz Wednesday night.
“At this point, I’m not anticipating sitting anybody Tuesday or Wednesday,” Kerr said. “But it all depends on how everybody turns out physically after the game Tuesday night. We’re just down players already, so it’s not like we have a full roster and pick and choose guys.”