OAKLAND – Over an hour before tipoff, Warriors center Damian Jones sat at his locker and stared intently at the laptop screen. Warriors assistant coach Ron Adams spoke in detail on how Jones could improve as a rebounder.

Jones nodded and listened. Yet, the Warriors’ recent efforts to prepare Jones with constant feedback have not yielded the returns they want.

The Warriors (12-7) enter Friday’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers (12-6) at Oracle Arena with the team’s starting center spot in flux. Until All-Star DeMarcus Cousins returns from his left Achilles injury, Warriors coach Steve Kerr has kept that position open partly to chase matchups. After Jones started the team’s first 16 games, though, Kerr has since changed course partly because of Jones’ inconsistency.

“You have to go out there and produce,” Kerr said. “There are great players everywhere. If you’re not producing, we’ll give the next guy a chance.”

Kerr still gave the 7-foot-0, 245-pound Jones a chance by starting him in Wednesday’s game against Oklahoma City. Instead of matching up well with the 7-foot-0, 265- pound Steven Adams, however, Jones squandered his opportunity in the Warriors’ loss.

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While Adams posted 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting and 11 rebounds, Jones’ four points, zero rebounds and two fouls overshadowed his three blocks. That performance contrasted Jones’ opening-night output against Adams when he had 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting, three rebounds and three blocks.

Then, Jones believed he “played with better energy.” On Wednesday, though, Jones conceded that Adams “got the best of me.”

“I just got to put myself in a better position,” said Jones, who has averaged 5.4 points on 73.7 percent shooting along with 3.1 rebounds and 2.7 fouls per game. “I need to have that mentality to go out and get it.”

Warriors’ star Kevin Durant sounded more forgiving. He argued that Jones’ struggles are “not the main issue” given the team’s recent absences to Stephen Curry (left groin) and Draymond Green (right toe). Curry has missed the past six games, while Green has sat for six of the last eight.

“He was trying to be active. Steven Adams is a load down there. He had nothing to do with it,” Durant said of Jones. “We have to help him out and crack down. We could’ve done a better job.”

Regardless, the Warriors have recently leaned on a different frontcourt player who has done a better job. Kerr started fourth-year forward Kevon Looney in two of the past three games because of his superior consistency with defending without fouling and rebounding. In each of those two games, Looney grabbed seven boards.

“Damian is a very young player so he’s learning every single game,” Kerr said of his third-year center that spent his first two years mostly with the Warriors’ G-League team in Santa Cruz. “Looney is way ahead of him because he’s had more years in the league and more experience. He’s also naturally a better rebounder. He has a nose for the ball. That is something we talk to Damian about. We’d like him to be more active on the glass, anticipating plays and being proactive rather than being reactive.”

What will it take for Jones to have that mentality?

“Doing your work early and creating space,” Jones said. “You just have to go out and get it.”

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Nearly 30 minutes after Wednesday’s game ended, Looney arrived at his locker drenched in sweat. He had just completed a 30-minute workout with Warriors forward Jordan Bell and rookie wing Jacob Evans that entailed conditioning drills and defensive slides. With the Warriors lacking practices during their recently compressed schedule, Looney figured this would help him stay prepared to elevate his role with Curry and Green remaining sidelined. .

“With those guys out, it’s a lot of offense for us. So we’re trying to stay aggressive,” Looney said. “With bigs, we’re not used to people making plays for us. So we have to be out there and be aggressive and help KD and Klay [Thompson] shoulder the load in getting extra possessions or getting putbacks.”

Will Jones provide that for the Warriors? They remained intrigued enough with his length, defense and post-up presence that they guaranteed his team option for next season worth $2.3 million. They are uncertain, though, on if Jones will provide that consistently. So, the Warriors coaching staff will continue to review film and harp on his mistakes, in hopes those lessons will register enough to help the Warriors minimize the impact of Curry and Green staying on the bench.

“It’s a little extra pressure,” Jones said. “More of the offense has to have more movement and stuff like that with them out. They generate a lot of offense, but sometimes getting moving will help us out.”

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