ORACLE ARENA AND WARRIORS PRACTICE FACILITY, OAKLAND, CA — It wasn’t too long ago when Golden State Warriors shooting guard Justin Holiday wasn’t even activated for games, let alone saddled with a “DNP” (did not play) by head coach Steve Kerr.
Holiday had only played in 11 of the first 25 games on the Warriors’ regular season schedule to start 2014-15, getting a high of 9:48 minutes played against Charlotte then hitting his then-season-high 3 points the next night in Los Angeles against the Lakers.
Eight of the next fifteen games were DNP’s for Holiday, when Kerr inserted him to start the 2nd quarter against the Sacramento Kings, with the Warriors up comfortably, 36-20, eight days ago on December 22nd at Oracle Arena.
He missed his first three-point attempt, but then made a running banker and pull-up jumper, as well as an assist to a Klay Thompson three-pointer.
The rest is, as they say, history. Holiday recorded 20 minutes played that night and has played 19, 11, 15, 15, 19 and a season-high 28 minutes against the Oklahoma City Thunder two nights ago. Against the Kings, he tallied 18 points. The next night against the Lakers, he posted 11. In those four games, he’s 24 for his last 48 from the field and 11-for-26 from downtown.
“Right now, Justin will continue to backup Klay (Thompson),” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said in a pre-game press conference last week. “That doesn’t mean that (Leandro) Barbosa‘s not going to be out there. Everything changes quickly in the NBA, based on an injury, foul trouble, who knows, but I threw Justin out there last week and he played really well…I’ll keep going to him.”
“I know this is a great team. I knew not playing doesn’t mean that you’re not good enough, it just means it wasn’t your time,” Holiday said of being the backup to Thompson. “I’m capable, so I’m just, again, thankful — from making the team from the beginning, to get where I am now.”
Holiday knew he had to be ready.
“That’s something that’s also understood when you’re a part of the team. You need to stay ready,” said Holiday. “You’re selling yourself short and the team short if you don’t do that because if you’re not ready to play when they do put you in, you’re not helping anybody.”
Kerr concurred that he didn’t have to tell Holiday to be ready.
“I point out a few things on tape where we need him to do something a little different,” said Kerr, “but it’s mostly just spacing, cutting, pretty simple stuff. He’s a really instinctive player. He’s really smart. He figures things out on the fly, a good shooter. He fits our style because he’s versatile defensively. He can guard a lot of different positions.”
Backup point guard Shaun Livingston agreed.
“He’s a hard worker,” Livingston said. “I tell him all the time: just remain aggressive. He’s a player that has talent. He’s here for a reason. It wasn’t a charity gift. He’s been great for us, great attitude, and we look forward to big things out of him as well. He’s long, athletic, and can play multiple positions, shoot the ball, defend, so he plays both ends of the floor.”
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