SAN FRANCISCO – Kevon Looney sent a memo to the Warriors, their fans, the Orlando Magic and the rest of the NBA on Tuesday night. Not intentionally but by chance.
Seven words: I’m still here and still counting.
The Warriors didn’t really need to read it, but the message needed to reach those outside their bubble.
Looney has spent most of this season in the shadows, especially when it comes to Golden State’s big men. Much has been made of how veteran Dario Sarić, with his shooting range and passing abilities, is such a perfect match for the offense. The conversation around rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis has evolved from “When will he get a chance to play?” to “He adds a dimension that this team really needed.”
Looney? What little was said focused largely on his usual modest numbers. There’s no point talking about his inability to stretch the court like Sarić or finish at the rim like Jackson-Davis, because that’s never been Loon’s game. Will never be.
Bouncing and filtering, doing both until his body barks, that’s Looney’s calling. And on Tuesday night, as the Magic’s battalion of big men pounded the Warriors on the glass, his value suddenly skyrocketed.
Orlando took a decisive 27-17 advantage into the locker room at halftime. Jackson-Davis, making his second consecutive start, grabbed two rebounds in 13 minutes. Sarić grabbed a rebound in seven minutes off the bench. Looney played five minutes and grabbed a rebound.
“We started to bounce back in the second half,” coach Steve Kerr said. “They had 13 offensive rebounds in the first half, only three in the second half. I thought our work on the glass was much better.”
That’s partly because Kerr adjusted his center rotation after halftime. Jackson-Davis started the second half and played 11 minutes. Sarić played eight minutes. Looney played 12 minutes, including all but 33 seconds of the final 6:21.
The Warriors outscored the Magic 19-14 over the final two quarters.
“Loon was fantastic, plus-10, and obviously closed out the game,” Kerr said. “He’s so good defensively.
“Wiggs (Andrew Wiggins), Brandin (Podziemski). . . our bench arrived and did a really good job.
Looney grabbed just four rebounds in the second half, but the 6-foot-9, eight-year-old veteran spent most of his time hitting and blocking Orlando’s massive front line, which pulled down four rebounds offensive after the intermission.
With five rotation players standing at least 6-foot-10, the Magic’s centers and power forwards rank among the tallest in the NBA. Six-foot-ten Paulo Banchero, who had eight rebounds in the first half, had four in the second. Moritz Wagner, at 6-foot-11, pulled down five rebounds in the first half, none in the second.
The entire Golden State team caught the rebounding bug in the second half, but Looney’s presence was the catalyst. When he entered with 6:21 remaining, the Warriors had a 97-95 lead. When he came out with 33.5 seconds remaining, they led 116-108.
“Orlando plays really well, they’re very physical, and that’s kind of our weakness,” Warriors star Stephen Curry said. “Trying not to foul and give up offensive rebounds and all those things.”
Looney started the first 11 games of the season and 28 of the first 31. The last two starts went to Jackson-Davis, who rarely came off the bench until two weeks ago. Sarić only played seven minutes less than Looney.
The big man rotation, under scrutiny all season, has become one of many ongoing experiments and likely will be for a while — especially with Jackson-Davis getting the chance to start.
“We’re going to continue to experiment because no one look has worked consistently,” Curry said of the team’s varying rotations. “That’s exactly the situation we’ve been in all year.”
The three big men have very different skill sets that make them strong complements to each other. This Warriors team, as the roster currently exists, needs all three to reach its potential.
Download and follow the Dubs Talk podcast
