Throughout the Golden State Warriors' first-round matchup against the Houston Rockets, head coach Steve Kerr has had to improvise over and over again with his rotations and employment of the roster.
Some of this has been in response to Rockets' head coach Ime Udoka's own gameplanning, as Kerr attempts to combat the versatile combination of Steven Adams, Alperen Sengun, and Jabari Smith Jr that presents size and strength the Warriors often cannot match.
Most, however, has been in response to the two-game absence of star forward Jimmy Butler, who suffered a pelvic contusion early in Game 2.
While almost every player saw the floor as Kerr scrambled to figure out a winning combination that night, in Game 3 the rotation was tightened, leaving young forward Gui Santos out of the game entirely. While the decision went largely unnoticed in a massive Golden State win, it could have major implications moving forward.
Gui Santos' DNP is a bad sign for the young forward
Santos, 22, has had an overall solid second season for the Warriors. Through 56 games, he has averaged 4.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists.
While his numbers do not necessarily pop off the page, his proclivity for hustle plays, grabbing offensive rebounds and racking up highly important steals, made him a major part of Golden State's rotation through the last stretch of the season.
He has also contributed positively to the Warriors' defense, which has seen a major upgrade since their acquisiton of Butler, providing stellar on-ball defense and handling his rotations and help assignments with ease.
While many thought he would be edged out as the rotation tightened in the playoffs, Santos played six and ten minutes in Game 1 and 2 of the first round, respectively.
However, in Game 2, in which Golden State needed to use the entirety of their bench, Santos played more erratically than he had the entire season, giving up two pivotal turnovers and commiting four fouls in his short run of playing time.
While Santos can certainly make winning plays, his lack of experience showed heavily in that game, and, as the Warriors needed all of their contributors to step up, Santos forced his way to the bench.
Now, seeing as he did not play in Game 3, it seems as though Kerr has tightened his playoff rotation as expected, relegating the promising forward to the end of the bench in the process.
While it remains to be seen whether he will re-appear in this series, it has become apparent that he cannot be fully trusted in high-leverage situations as of yet, hurting his chances to see the court again this season.