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Warriors prepared to lift minutes restriction on Cousins

Noah Graham / National Basketball Association / Getty

The Golden State Warriors should have the full use of center DeMarcus Cousins over the final stretch of the regular season.

"It just depends," head coach Steve Kerr said Wednesday of Cousins' minutes restriction, according to ESPN's Nick Friedell. "We'll see how the games go. I don't think we'll change the plan too much in terms of how we're going to play him in the rotations and all that, but I think once we get back into the rhythm we can absolutely play him for longer stretches, play him down the stretch we like."

The four-time All-Star has competed under a cap of roughly 25 minutes per game since returning to action on Jan. 18 following his recovery from a ruptured left Achilles. Golden State is 10-1 when Cousins takes the floor.

Kerr added that Warriors director of sports medicine and performance Rick Celebrini is not be concerned with how much playing time Cousins can handle, but the team will continue to keep close tabs on the 28-year-old's performance to ensure it's not throwing too much at him, too quickly.

"It was just sort of understood that we looked at the calendar, we had about a month, maybe a little more, between the time he came back and the All-Star break coming," Kerr said. "So that was the plan. We executed our plan. He did a great job, DeMarcus did. So now we're entering a different phase of the season. We'll see how it goes, but nothing's set in stone."

Cousins is averaging 13.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.1 blocks in 23.4 minutes per contest. He sat out the second night of a back-to-back slate on Feb. 13 against the Portland Trail Blazers before the All-Star break.

"I thought the last few games he just looked a little tired, which is to be expected," added Kerr. "We were a good month into his recovery or into his return I should say. And the first few weeks he shot the ball a lot better than he did the last few games, so I thought he maybe looked a little fatigued.

"So I'm hoping the break helps him out and he's able to come back and start shooting the ball a little bit better. I'm sure he will; that's what his track record suggests. And then for the whole team we got 25 games left, so find a rhythm for himself individually, but continue to work on his rhythm with his teammates."

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