The Golden State Warriors got another epic performance from superstar guard Stephen Curry on Sunday night. While his heroics were not quite enough to beat the Houston Rockets, his return did bring about a pretty obvious change in playing time in the rotation.
Pat Spencer, who has at times played really well when Curry has been out due to injury, played just 12 minutes on Sunday night. It was nice to see that he was not completely axed from the rotation as that might have been unfair, but he hasn’t played as well as he did earlier in the season.
Pat Spencer's playing time goes down with Steph Curry's return
Spencer’s shooting percentages has gone down steadily over the course of the year and his three-point shooting has dwindled as well. It was pretty safe to assume that his production from earlier in the season would not last based on his career numbers, but he's definitely taken a big step forward this season regardless.
While he was pretty regularly getting 20 or more minutes in Curry’s absence, he got just 12 on Sunday and just 16 minutes in the team’s previous game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Expect that number to be in the 10-15 minute range for the rest of the regular season, especially when Curry is playing.
Head coach Steve Kerr said that Curry should get around 25 minutes or so per game as he still regains his footing after returning from his knee injury. With the Warriors locked into the No. 10 seed in the Western Conference, there really is no need to over-exert Curry ahead of the team’s Play-In game against either the Portland Trail Blazers or Los Angeles Clippers.Â
Spencer can still play an important role the rest of the season though. He needs to come in and relieve Curry at times, remaining a key part of keeping the 38-year-old healthy coming down the stretch.
Pat Spencer is playing for his next contract
At the same time, Spencer may also be playing as an audition for his next team. The Warriors would surely love to have him back next season as a bench player after what he’s shown this season, but maybe another team would be willing to take a shot on him as a backup point guard.
As things currently stand, with both Curry and Brandin Podziemski ahead of him on the depth chart, not to mention the emergence of LJ Cryer, Spencer might want to go to another team where more minutes could be on offer.
It’s great to have Curry back and even though that means less playing time for Spencer, he still deserves a lot of credit for having a career-best season while regularly filling in for the greatest player in franchise history.