Warriors' Steve Kerr Defends Steph Curry Playing Only 30 Minutes in Loss to T-Wolves

Steve Kerr isn't backing down from his decision to play Stephen Curry just 30 minutes in Sunday's loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

"We can't expect to just ride Steph game after game after game," Kerr told reporters. "We've put the burden of this franchise on his shoulders for 15 years. We can't expect him to play 35 minutes ... If you want to say that him playing 30 minutes instead of 32 is a difference between a win and a loss, I totally disagree with that. We're trying to win the game. And we're trying to keep him fresh, too."

Curry sat out a stretch of around 11 game minutes between the third and fourth quarters in Golden State's 114-110 loss to Minnesota. His 30 minutes played were nearly three minutes less than his season average, and the All-Star guard said he expected to play more.

"I want to play as many minutes as I'm fresh and able to, so I'm a little bit [surprised] knowing that they were going on a run," Curry said. "Our lead was withering away."

Curry is in the midst of his worst stretch of basketball this season. He's averaging 22.3 points on 40.8 percent shooting overall and hitting just 36.2 percent of his threes in March.

The prolonged slump may have played a part in Kerr attempting to give his franchise cornerstone some more rest. Curry has hoisted the Warriors on his back all season amid the struggles of Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins and the inconsistent availability of Draymond Green.

The result has been a disappointing campaign that has the Warriors sitting at 36-34 overall and barely hanging onto the final Play-In Tournament berth. Having Curry on the bench for long stretches likely isn't the best way to turn things around over the final 12 games of the season.