The revamped Golden State Warriors weren't able to complete a clean sweep of the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday in American Airlines Center. They dropped Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals, 119-109, forcing a flight back home to Chase Center for a Game 5 on Thursday. But the Warriors nearly pulled off a miraculous comeback, as they entered the fourth quarter trailing by 29 points. And perhaps the brooms could've been used, if not for a late lineup change.
Rather than sticking with his second-team unit -- which trimmed the deficit to eight points with less than four minutes left -- Warriors head coach Steve Kerr elected to put his starters back in. Although the decision wasn't illogical, their starting five couldn't rally, and combined to score just 58 points. Following the game, Kerr defended his move for fresh legs, telling reporters that he thought the bench unit was showing signs of fatigue with the game still in reach.
"I was just so incensed when Kerr put the starters back in. How could you do that? This is the team that got you all the way back," Maggie Gray said during Maggie and Perloff on Wednesday. "This was the unit that got you all the way back -- Kuminga, Lee, Moody -- you've got to stay with these guys, to see if they can finish the job. And I thought that would've been such an incredible statement on Warriors' culture and depth. Coaching staff couldn't resist...
"This is an ultimate time where -- I hate to say it -- you could've experimented here and see what could've happened. We talk about this a lot, with analytics and how they've come into the game: does momentum exist?... And as much as I appreciate analytics describing games and helping us understand sports, I feel like momentum exists... Just keep the good vibes going... And you had nothing to lose -- the series is a wrap when they go back to Golden State."
Maggie and Perloff's complete thoughts on the Western Conference Finals can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow the Maggie and Perloff Show on Twitter @MaggieandPerl and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.