The Golden State Warriors dropped yet another heartbreaking game on Sunday that they probably should have won. For the second straight game, breakout player Pat Spencer did not play in a questionable move from head coach Steve Kerr.
Spencer stepped up for the Warriors earlier this month and late in November with Stephen Curry injured. The two-way contracted player served as a starting point guard for a number of games and played really well, nearly leading the Dubs to improbable wins over the Oklahoma City Thunder and Philadelphia 76ers before securing actual victories against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls.
Warriors unjustly icing out once red-hot Pat Spencer
Head coach Steve Kerr seemed to recognize that Spencer is indeed the very expletive he declared himself to be as he pounded his chest at mid-court in Philadelphia. Kerr even said that he had to reward Spencer by playing him even when Curry returned from injury.
He was true to his word for one game as Spencer played against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Curry's return, but the team lost that game and since then Spencer has only appeared in only three games with his most minutes coming against Orlando when he played 12 on December 22.
He has not played in either of the team's last two games as he rode the bench against the Dallas Mavericks on Christmas, before the same occurrence against the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.
It is very easy to second-guess Kerr when the team loses games and point and ask why a certain player did not suit up. Kerr has a lot of mouths to feed and hasn't been able to find a truly consistent lineup or rotation because the team has not been winning consistently enough to warrant a fixed rotation. Kerr and the coaching staff are clearly desperate to find some sort of combination that will stick, but they may be too willing to shake things up after every loss.
Spencer seems like he earned playing time at least for the rest of the month after performing like he did while Curry was out. That doesn't mean you have to start him or anything, but maybe getting him in for 10 minutes when Curry is not on the floor isn't the worst idea.
It's a long season and Spencer's time will surely come again, but it is unfortunate that he has not been a factor in the last two contests.