SAN FRANCISCO — One hour had passed since the Warriors fell to the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday, but the sound of shoe squeaks and basketballs echoing off the hardwood still could be heard.
Jonathan Kuminga, fresh off recording a DNP-Coach’s Decision, got up shots on the Chase Center floor while most of his teammates were long gone from the arena. It was Kuminga’s first DNP-CD since the 2023 Western Conference semifinals.
Will JK play a second Tuesday night? pic.twitter.com/agBDZxOEG9
— Bonta Hill (@BontaHill) April 13, 2025
A few hours prior, Warriors coach Steve Kerr approached Kuminga and informed him he wouldn’t be a part of the usual rotation in the first quarter, and that he would see how things went from there. Kerr didn’t tell Kuminga he wasn’t going to play because he wasn’t sure if that’d be the case.
Gary Payton II checked into the game when Kuminga normally would roughly halfway through the first quarter. He played 24 minutes and finished with two points, four rebounds, three assists and one steal.
Buddy Hield and Kevon Looney each played 16 minutes off the bench. Quinten Post played 10. The rest of the minutes were distributed to the starters, who averaged 39.4 minutes in the overtime loss. Jimmy Butler played 48 minutes.
“We’ve just found a group since Jimmy got here that we’re pretty comfortable with,” Kerr explained. “Gui [Santos] didn’t play either. Gui’s been our highest plus-minus guy over the last two months. Both he and JK have been really impactful players for us.
“And it doesn’t mean they’re out of the loop going forward, it’s just this is how this game played out.”
This comes just three days after Kerr went on record to disclose some concerns about Kuminga’s fit with the team since Jimmy Butler’s early February arrival.
“Every game is different and I think Jimmy’s arrival took away a lot of Jonathan’s minutes at the four,” Kerr said Thursday on 95.7 The Game. “There’s no doubt that as soon as Jimmy arrived and we started winning, we leaned into the lineup combinations that enhanced Jimmy because we were winning and Jonathan was out for that whole stretch.
“We went like 17 and 3 or something, so we’re going to keep doing what’s been winning. But the lineup with Jimmy, Jonathan and Draymond doesn’t fit real well, frankly. It just doesn’t. We need more spacing. We’ve found other lineups that have clicked, and this is just part of the deal, being in the NBA, and you’ve got to adapt to whatever’s happening with the team.
“Jonathan’s done a great job of that. He’s working hard. He’s playing well when he’s out there. But I’m just going with the line of combinations that I think are going to give us the best chance to win, and there’s going to be nights where he’s absolutely part of that like the Lakers game, and then there ‘s’s going to be nights where I go to Buddy [Hield] or Moses [Moody} or Gary Payton. It just changes every game based on what’s happening, and I have to read that as a coach.”
The new-look Warriors went 16-6 in the 22 games that Kuminga missed while nursing an ankle injury. When he returned, however, they went 11-4 prior to Sunday’s loss.
Seemingly, they’ve found ways to win both with and without Kuminga. The 22-year-old recorded a career-high 34 points off the bench in Golden State’s previous matchup with Los Angeles on Dec. 27. He also added 10 rebounds in that game, a department the Warriors could’ve used some help in Sunday.
Golden State was outrebounded by Los Angeles 42-25. And the challenge of crashing the glass will only get more difficult.
The Clippers are the 17th-best rebounding team in the league. The Memphis Grizzlies, who the Warriors host in the NBA play-in game Tuesday, are ranked second best.
Who’s first? The Houston Rockets, the team waiting to face the winner of the Warriors vs. Grizzlies game in a seven-game first-round playoff series.
Steph Curry anticipates that potentially being a factor in Kuminga potentially re-emerging into the rotation against Memphis.
“Yeah, I think whatever the game calls for,” Curry said. “Coach makes decisions, and you understand when a certain combination is out there, especially if it’s JK, he can make his presence felt in the paint. He’s had some games where he’s attacked the glass and made that a point of emphasis.
“And if he’s out there, that’s a great way for him to make his presence felt. But no matter what the combinations are, we got to be ready for whatever that one game kind of environment, everybody has to be ready, including him.”
Well, he’s definitely staying ready as he showed after the game Sunday.
Now it’s just a mental game the rest of the way.
“Just to be ready. It’s the test of a young player in this league, and especially with our team, you never know when you’re moment will be there, at the brightest and highest of moments,” Curry added. “So it wasn’t his time tonight, and you know, against Memphis, it could be a game where he makes his presence felt.
“So don’t let noise outside the locker room, the attention that might come from it, distract you from your ability to make an impact when your number is called. … You got to be able to be ready.”
Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast
Read the full article here