Steve Kerr finally appears to have seen the light (at long last).
The Golden State Warriors played the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday in Game 3 of their second-round playoff series at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif. With the Warriors having lost Game 2 in a blowout, Kerr decided to push some new buttons.
Trayce Jackson-Davis started for the Warriors at center (after Quinten Post got the start in Game 2). Additionally, Jonathan Kuminga received heavy run for Golden State off the bench.
It was the Kuminga decision that really paid dividends for the Warriors in Game 3. He scored 20 points through the first three quarters and also provided strong defense to completely energize Golden State on both ends.
Kuminga’s superb play led to everyone saying the same thing online about the Warriors head coach Kerr — that he had essentially committed coaching malpractice by refusing to play Kuminga for much of the season.
The 22-year-old Kuminga lost a lot of playing time this season because of Kerr’s preference for smaller lineups featuring Brandin Podziemski as a third guard. Kuminga got just 24.3 minutes per game during the regular season (mainly off the bench) and played only 50 total minutes during Golden State’s seven-game first-round series against the Houston Rockets.
But with Steph Curry (hamstring) getting hurt in Game 1 against the Timberwolves, Kerr had to get creative with his lineups. Kuminga has even faced rumors in the past of a supposed rift with Kerr, but he was finally able to get his moment during Game 3 on Saturday.
