CLICK HERE if you’re having a problem viewing the photos or videos on a mobile device OAKLAND — DeMarcus Cousins’ first career playoff game, a year after suffering a devastating Achilles tendon injury, was not the stuff of fairytales. Cousins shot 4 for 12, had six turnovers to go with nine points and nine rebounds and fouled out after 21 minutes on the floor. But in his ninth NBA season, he’s 1-0 lifetime in the postseason after the Warriors’ 121-104 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. And the big man had no complaints about his playoff debut. “It feels good, man. Good to finally be in that atmosphere for the first time. I had fun,” he said. Cousins said the crowd and the energy at Oracle Arena were incredible. Was he nervous? “Nah.” Just excited? “Nothing. I was good.” Asked to assess the quality of his performance, Cousins said, “It was cool.” Translation: He was not thrilled. Warriors coach Steve Kerr wasn’t concerned. “I don’t need to say anything to DeMarcus. It was a frustrating night for him, fouling out, a couple tough calls,” Kerr said. “But it was important for him to get his feed wet and feel the playoffs, feel the energy and I have no doubt he’ll come back and play a lot better in Game 2.” His teammates have no doubt about that. “He’s going to be great for us. He’s going to win us a lot of games in this playoff,” Klay ‘Thompson said. “It obviously wasn’t DeMarcus’ best game, but he was still very effective and he’s going to be great for us. It’s a marathon, not a sprint and I expect him to be dominant from here on out.” Andre Iguodala said playing in the postseason for the first time can be an eye-opener. “He got some good experience tonight, seeing how the game goes and how possessions are very important,” Iguodala said. “Hopefully he continues to pick up quickly how a playoff game is.” Cousins got a clear sense of the difference. ”Everything’s just more magnified, every possession is a lot more important,” he said. “The regular season you kind of get lost … I guess could say you just go through the motions sometimes because it’s long. But this is definitely a fun time to be playing ball.”<doc-sep>After a grueling 82-game regular season in which the Golden State Warriors somehow managed to scrape their way into the top eight of the Western Conference, they begin the playoffs today with a clean slate. And, oh yeah by the way, they enter the 2019 NBA Playoffs as the top seed in the Western Conference in their quest for a fifth straight NBA Finals appearance and a third straight title. If you spent the regular season worrying about the impact of Draymond Green furiously yelling #JustLeave, speculation about Kevin Durant actually leaving, or whether the Warriors should #FireKerr so they could hire someone else (because obviously things were so much better under his predecessor), perhaps now you can put all that anguish down. Turns out that the Warriors are in pretty good position to cement themselves as one of the NBA’s great dynasties with a rare three-peat. If you’re now worrying that I’m looking ahead too much, I suppose that’s your prerogative. So let’s stick to the present: it’s pretty fun that this team that just won two straight titles has added DeMarcus Cousins, who will be making his first playoff appearance in his NBA career. Anthony Slater of The Athletic detailed the issue in an article published yesterday, which included a comment from Kevin Durant about what’s at stake in one’s first postseason appearance as a professional. Kevin Durant on his first playoff experience pic.twitter.com/ct0rWzgwRS — Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) April 12, 2019 The crazy thing about this Warriors team, to Durant’s point about wondering how one might be effective in their first playoff appearance, is that this team is still figuring out how to come together despite the ridiculous speculation, injuries, and off nights... or rather, strings of off nights. Tonight, we watch this team begin its march toward their rightful place in history in earnest as the top seed pursuing a third straight title and fourth in five years. Please try to block out all the noise and just enjoy this journey, ok?<doc-sep>As some now-dead guy once said, nothing is certain except death and taxes. In the NBA, it gets narrower. A smart team can avoid the luxury tax, but eventually every team, if it advances far enough in the playoffs, has to deal with the Warriors’ Death Lineup. That’s a problem for opponents. And it’s a challenge for Warriors center DeMarcus Cousins. The Los Angeles Clippers were the first playoff team this year to meet Death, running into the Warriors’ Grim Reaper scythe midway through the second quarter of Saturday’s series-opening game. With 6:37 left in the half, the Warriors’ 11-point lead having dwindled to one, Steve Kerr went Death. He subbed in Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala for Shaun Livingston and Andrew Bogut. Green and Iguodala joined Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry to make the Death Lineup, AKA the Hamptons Five. In five minutes on the game clock, the Warriors increased their lead to seven points. The fireworks included three Iguodala dunks, two off alley-oop feeds from Green. The circus was in town. “That’s our best lineup,” Kerr said after the game, explaining why he opted to close the second quarter with Death. “Somebody told me today it’s the best five-man lineup in the league from a numbers standpoint. That’s our best lineup, so in the playoffs, we’ll play that lineup more often than we would in the regular season (4.7 minutes per game). So we’re going to go to it a little earlier. It’s not exactly rocket science.” But it is psychology. More use of the Death Lineup means Cousins, a starter, is increasingly marginalized. Cousins played 21 minutes before fouling out Saturday, and his plus-minus was minus-17. Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle Part of his shaky playoff debut can be chalked up to rookie jitters — the ninth-year pro was appearing in his first playoff game. But Cousins doesn’t match up well against the Clippers, and his role figures to be diminished from the regular season, when he played 25.7 minutes per game, and closer to 30 minutes once he got into game shape. If the Warriors make it to the second round and meet the Rockets, Cousins will face a similar matchup problem, and he again will have a smaller role than in the regular season. This raises the question of how Cousins will handle his adjusted role. Since signing in the offseason, the big man has been a ray of sunshine, especially once he was cleared to actually play. Kerr and the players say Cousins is a fun and funny person who has brightened up the locker room and pumped life into a team that dealt with midseason staleness. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle Cousins’ spirit can be an asset in the playoffs, so how he handles his changing role will be a subtle but meaningful subplot. When Cousins joined the team, the conventional wisdom was that he would be on his best behavior. He needs to prove not only that he is healthy, but that he can be a team leader and asset off the court, worthy of a massive contract. No team will risk huge money on a problem guy. Cousins has been solid, spirit-wise, but he’s human, susceptible to ups and downs. The first few times Kerr subbed Cousins out of games sooner than he wanted to come out, the big man glowered. No doubt there were times in the regular season when Kerr gave Cousins added run to allow him to get his legs and confidence back. But the playoffs are no time to massage egos or feelings. For sure, Cousins, no matter how well he plays, isn’t going to break into the Death Lineup, which figures to be the closing five in the second and fourth quarters of close games. “We’ll play that lineup more often than we did in the regular season because we’ve got days off in between, and it’s what we do,” Kerr said Sunday. Cousins, after spending his whole career facing double- and triple-team defenses, finds himself all but ignored by defenses. The Clippers left him and Green wide open at the three-point arc. The Clippers will pay Cousins and Green to launch 3-point shots that would otherwise go to Curry or Thompson. “That’s very strange for DeMarcus,” Kerr said, “when you’re used to being the main option, then you step into a role where you have to be more of a complementary piece, it’s not easy. ... “And it’s all about adjustments. DeMarcus will learn, and I think he will adapt really well to the way teams are playing him, and playing Draymond. But we have to do it as a team, too. ... I’m very confident he will be in a better space as this thing goes.” Scott Ostler is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: sostler@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @scottostler<doc-sep>
As his team was about to embark on its 2019 playoff run, Steve Kerr observed how difficult the journey has become. The Warriors are looking for their fifth consecutive trip to the NBA Finals, and what was a fresh and joyous journey has transformed into a slog. “No question, these last two years have been arduous,” Kerr said Saturday. But to get a fresh perspective, Kerr and the rest of the Warriors need to only hang out with DeMarcus Cousins. Now in his ninth year in the league, at 28, Cousins is finally making his playoff debut. “He’s going to be excited out there,” Kerr said. “I’m excited for DeMarcus. My view is that every time we faced a really big game this year against top opponents in the conference, road or at home, he’s come up big. He’s had fantastic games where he’s actually controlled the action. He’s going to rise to the occasion. I’m excited about that. “He’ll be nervous too. In the first playoff game eveybody’s nervous. But I’m excited for his opportunity and what he can do for us.” Before Game 1 against the Clippers, the team Cousins made his season debut against in January, Cousins didn’t look nervous in the Warriors locker room. He was wearing a black “Strength in Numbers” T-shirt. His legs were heavily taped. Unlike his time in Sacramento, Cousins knows the burden of success is shared. “Before you get to DeMarcus you’ve other guys you’ve got to get to first,” Doc Rivers said, when asked how he would defend Cousins. “There’s a checklist and there’s a lot of guys on it. You’ve got to focus on big three and then have to try to create ways of limiting everyone else.” Jaded about the playoffs? If any of the Warriors feel that, they should get over to the corner of the locker room and talk to Cousins. Ann Killion is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: akillion@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @annkillion