Gui Santos said he is adjusting well to heavy minutes amid the Golden State Warriors’ injury crisis after Friday’s 127-117 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“I’m feeling good. I’m doing the best that I can for the recoveries and all that,” Santos said. “At the beginning when I started playing a little bit more, I felt a lot, after the game I was tired, everything hurts. But now I’m more kind of like used to it.”
The Warriors played without Draymond Green and saw Al Horford exit early with right calf tightness, while Kristaps Porzingis scored 20 points in his first start since arriving from the Atlanta Hawks.
Santos described the locker room mentality amid the roster challenges. “We’re just trying to play our best. When you don’t have a lot of guys or a bunch of guys are hurt, it’s tough to keep the same rhythm,” he said. “We lost Jimmy. That was the first hard hit for us. Then we got Steph out for a lot of days, a bunch of guys in and out because of injuries. But we try to play hard every night.”
The 23-year-old guard addressed the difficulty of handling constant roster changes. “Right before the game we knew Draymond was not playing… then during the first half, Al fell with the calf… then QP feeling something, then we accept feeling something. We always try to run for each other, make the extra play, help each other,” he said.
Santos also highlighted the challenge of matching size against Minnesota. “We lost a lot of size, especially Al and Dre against a team with Rudy and Julius,” he said. “My goal was just trying to take Rudy out of the way so somebody else can grab the rebound, but there are three more tall guys trying to fight for it. It’s tough, but we have to box out and contest shots.”
Porzingis’ presence in the lineup has helped the Warriors adapt offensively. “When he’s in the game we look a lot for him. He played 19 minutes and got 20 points. He can score, pass, do whatever we want from him. When you have someone like that, especially without Steph or Jim, it’s always great,” Santos said.
Santos said the team also drew extra motivation from Curry’s 38th birthday. “Yes. We know how competitive Steph is and he really wants to win every game. Now he cannot be on the court, so we try to keep the team in a good position. When he comes back, we want to be ready,” he said.
Despite the loss, Santos emphasized effort and trust among teammates. “We just play hard every night, and when someone’s out we pick up for them,” he said.
