Kevon Looney of the Golden State Warriors was almost a late scratch before Tuesday night’s 127-100 rout of the Los Angeles Lakers at home. His head coach is now providing some clarification on what transpired.
According to Sean Cunningham of Fox 40 KTXL, Looney was diagnosed with a mysterious sickness before the game. Steve Kerr informed the Warriors that their regular starting center would only be allowed to play for 20 minutes. Looney’s timing constraints, according to Kerr, played a role in his choice to bench the big man in favor of backup JaMychal Green.
Lineup alert: Kevon Looney (illness) will be limited to "about 20 minutes max" if cleared to play Thursday, per Warriors medical staff.
— Underdog NBA (@Underdog__NBA) May 5, 2023
Looney played 11:44 of action on Thursday, scoring six points on 3-of-6 shooting and grabbing eight rebounds—a vast improvement from his totals of 10 points and 23 boards in Game 1. Given his second start of the year, Green finished with 15 points in 12:32 on 6-of-9 shooting (3-of-6 from outside the arc).
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Before yesterday, the 6’9″ Looney had a fantastic postseason run with the 44-38 Dubs. Before Thursday, he had played in eight healthy postseason games, averaging 7.3 points on 54.3% shooting, 16.1 rebounds, and 4.4 assists.
We’ll have to wait and see how the illness affects Looney moving forward, but if Draymond Green continues to play as well as he did in Game 2, Golden State’s front line might be able to function without Looney.
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