Steve Kerr keeps Warriors’ reserves fresh, ready to go

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Long ago, in Steve Kerr’s run with the Bulls in the mid-1990s, he played in 378 games. He started none. Kerr was part of Chicago’s regular rotation, but he also had ample time and personal motivation to digest head coach Phil Jackson’s philosophy on substitutions.

Two decades later, Jackson’s influence surfaces in the way Kerr manages his bench with the Warriors. The essential tenet: Be ready. Kerr keeps his reserves involved and invested, and this approach paid off in Thursday night’s 104-89 victory over Cleveland in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

Golden State’s bench players outscored their Cavaliers counterparts 45-10. Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala led the way, playing more minutes than usual, and Leandro Barbosa, Festus Ezeli and Anderson Varejao also contributed in shorter stints.

This one game, on the NBA’s biggest stage, illustrated the value of Kerr’s open-minded, unscientific view of playing time. He knows the Warriors have skilled players beyond Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, and he’s not afraid to use them.

“As a rule, you have a regular rotation you like to stick with, but you don’t stick with it 100 percent,” Kerr said Friday. “You mix and match a little bit. That’s kind of my thinking. I definitely got that from Phil, and from watching (Gregg Popovich’s) teams over the last six to eight years. …

“When I played for Phil, it was very rare that anybody on the roster went more than two weeks without getting into the meat of a game. He would just throw somebody out there, randomly, in the middle of a game, for two minutes. It was like, ‘Wait! What’s he doing?’ ”

Kerr did this Thursday night, inserting Ian Clark for one minute and six seconds midway through the second quarter (after Thompson picked up his third foul). Varejao also played for 1:46 in the first half and another 1:33 early in the fourth quarter, when the Warriors made their decisive run.

Golden State Warriors' head coach Steve Kerr during a time out against Cleveland Cavaliers in 2nd quarter of Game 1 of NBA Finals at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, June 2, 2016. Golden State Warriors' head coach Steve Kerr during a time out against Cleveland Cavaliers in 2nd quarter of Game 1 of NBA Finals at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, June 2, 2016. Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Steve Kerr keeps Warriors’ reserves fresh, ready to go 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Along the way, Kerr and his coaches adjusted on the fly. They always enter the game with a plan, of course, but Kerr leaves significant room for flexibility. He likes to coach “by feel,” as the saying goes.

This includes constant conversation on the bench with lead assistant Luke Walton, and at the start of timeout huddles with Walton and the rest of the staff.

“It’s not scientific, and it can’t be,” Walton said. “We have so many really good players, and guys who are uniquely good at different aspects of the game than the other guys.”

Walton pointed to Andrew Bogut’s three backup centers. Festus Ezeli brings rim protection, Marreese Speights offers space-the-floor outside shooting and Anderson Varejao provides perpetual motion and clever passing. Kerr often lets the flow of the game determine which player to summon.

Then, on Thursday night, it required no sixth sense to spot the impact of Livingston (who finished with 20 points) and Iguodala (12 points, seven rebounds and six assists). Kerr and his coaches planned to play Iguodala and Livingston more than usual in this series, anyway, but they were reluctant to give them much rest at all in Game 1.

Iguodala ended up playing nearly 36 minutes and Livingston logged more than 26½.

“The way Shaun was playing, we were obviously doing everything we could to manipulate the lineup to keep him out there,” Walton said.

Iguodala and Livingston are both veteran players who have worked under several head coaches. Kerr brings instant credibility, as a five-time NBA champion and a onetime teammate of Michael Jordan.

And let’s face it: Kerr’s keep-everyone-involved style helped the Warriors win last year’s title and return to this year’s Finals.

“I think Coach has a great feel for the game,” Livingston said. “He just has a great feel for the energy and temperature of the team.”

In the Western Conference finals, this often meant leaning more on his starters. Curry, Thompson and Green each played more than 39 minutes in Game 6, when the Warriors were scrambling to save their season (and Livingston and his bench buddies were struggling).

Kerr might return to this at some point against the Cavs. He’ll adapt, much like Jackson did back in the day with the Bulls.

“I thought Phil’s genius was building something very strong by playing the reserves maybe not in a regular pattern, but just putting guys out there as a reminder to stay ready, a reminder that you matter,” Kerr said.

“The job was pretty easy here, because we have so much depth. So we knew we wanted to play a lot of people. … I think it’s important from a chemistry standpoint.”

Ron Kroichick is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rkroichick@sfchronicle.com Twitter: ronkroichick

NBA Finals

Warriors vs. Cleveland

Warriors lead series 1-0

All games on Channel: 7 Channel: 10

Game 1: Warriors 104, Cavaliers 89

Sunday: at Oracle Arena, 5 p.m.

Wednesday: at Cleveland, 6 p.m.

Friday: at Cleveland, 6 p.m.

June 13: at Oracle Arena, 6 p.m.*

June 16: at Cleveland, 6 p.m.*

June 19: at Oracle Arena, 5 p.m.*

* — if necessary