The pros and cons to Steph Curry potentially coming off the bench in Game 2

Steph Curry is expected to play in Game 2 against Denver on Monday, but coach Steve Kerr wouldn’t reveal if Curry would be in the starting lineup. For the near future, at least, it may not be the worst idea for Curry to play off the bench.

Sure, the Warriors are at their strongest with Curry anchoring a starting rotation — he’s dominated the league playing the entire first and third quarters and along with the last six minutes of the second and fourth frames — and a return to that rotation is the goal.

But off injury, with Jordan Poole in the mix, against a one-dimensional Denver team, Curry off the bench in the near term can ease his return and prolong one difficult decision for the coaching staff.

“That’s the greatest player ever to come off the bench,” Draymond Green said.

Here’s a look at the pros and cons of Bench Steph.

Pro: Poole remains in the starting lineup 

Curry opting into a bench role, for now, delays a coaching decision on Jordan Poole’s role.

Will Poole start? Or will he move back to the bench?

Poole is playing like a starter — he led the team with 30 points in Saturday’s Game 1 win and averaged 25 points over his last 20 games played in the regular season. Plus, he’s shooting 37% from three in 51 games as a starter, as opposed to 31%  in 25 games as a reserve.

Kerr has thrown out a three-guard starting lineup featuring Poole, Curry and Klay Thompson once in the regular season — when the non-injury stars aligned — that resulted in a thrilling win over the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks. But it’s to be seen if the Warriors’ staff feels that starting lineup can be deployed in any match-up.

Asked if Poole will continue to start when Curry returns to starting form, Kerr said he would “cross that bridge when we get there.”

If Curry sits, the Warriors coaching staff won’t have to cross that bridge yet. And maybe this situation isn’t the worst thing for Curry right now.

Pro: Curry can ease his way back

It should be noted it was partially Curry’s decision to come off the bench for Game 1. He noticed how long Klay Thompson had to sit out with his minutes restriction as a starter immediately after his return from a two-year layoff.

“Watching him go through it when he came back, that was a long time he was sitting in the first and most of the second (quarter),” Curry said on Saturday. “That’s a long time sitting if you’re trying to find a rhythm. I want to play a constant pace throughout the game. And knowing what my allotment was coming off the bench playing those six minutes in every quarter was the right move.”

Curry, working with a minutes restriction, shook off a shot attempt-less first quarter and eased into a 16-point game with 3 3-pointers in Saturday’s win. Not prolific Curry, but still impactful.

He’s dealt with playoff injuries twice before, recovering from knee sprains in the 2016 and 2018 playoff runs. In both returns, Curry came off the bench in his first game back and returned to the starting rotation the following game. In the 2016 playoffs, though, it appeared at times he wasn’t playing at full strength as he struggled to get by defenders. It may benefit the team in the long run if they can get away with Bench Steph a little bit longer.

Pro: Curry off the bench can throw a defense off

Green put the advantage best:

“Steph Curry is going to have the ball. Steph Curry is going to have a rhythm,” he said. “Other guys getting into the flow of the game, now he comes in. For a defense to go from ‘Man, we’re doing this and this,’ to ‘Oh, S***…Steph Curry is on the floor. That’s very tough to deal with. I don’t know how long that will last. Another game or two or three, who knows?”

Con: The Warriors are better with Steph Curry as a starter, of course

Curry is one of the best players in the league and the Warriors offense revolves around him and his gravity. This team is at its very best when he’s playing a full 35-to-40 minutes in a rotation in which he’s only sitting once per half. The sooner the team can get back into that flow with him, the better.

While there are short term advantages to Curry playing one more game off the bench, he and his teammates have to be anxious to see him back in the full swing of things. The playoff intensity exponentially grows from here. And that starts in Game 2.