SAN FRANCISCO — With 33 seconds left, Steve Kerr and Steph Curry, serving as a one-night assistant coach while resting his aching knees, discussed whether the Warriors should burn their final timeout.
It was a risk, considering the various scenarios in which a timeout could be needed in the final half-minute of a one-possession NBA game. But Kerr and Curry agreed that the upcoming offensive possession was too important to let ride without a plan and a pair of substitutions.
Kerr called it. He put Buddy Hield in for spacing purposes. He put Kyle Anderson in to be the trusty inbounder. Then, he called Jonathan Kuminga’s number, giving the fourth-year wing the ball in his hands up top with the game on the line.
“It was a no-brainer to get him the ball,” Kerr said.
Kuminga delivered. The play design called for Hield and Andrew Wiggins to set a pair of screens for Kuminga. Hield nudged Dillion Brooks, Kuminga’s defender, on the first screen. Wiggins got a cleaner piece on the second, dragging the smaller Fred VanVleet into the action.
Kuminga pounced at the brief lane of space, powering into the lane for the layup that sealed a 99-93 win over the Rockets, snapping a five-game losing streak. Curry and Draymond Green, sitting with calf tightness, burst from the sideline to celebrate with Kuminga in the aftermath.
JONATHAN KUMINGA WITH THE CLUTCH BUCKET 🤯 pic.twitter.com/aJ4xCeDi3l
— NBA TV (@NBATV) December 6, 2024
A common theme emerged late in games for the Warriors during this recent five-game losing streak: They couldn’t score. In San Antonio, they only put up 13 fourth-quarter points. In the loss to the Thunder, they missed 14 straight shots, had nine straight empty possessions and went without a point for five full minutes in crunch time. In Denver, they were outscored 11-0 in the final 2:32 to blow another lead.
Kerr called it “pick-and-roll time” in the NBA. Curry is their best on-ball option. But opposing defenses face-guard and swarm him. He’s four months from his 37th birthday. He’s dealing with double knee tendinitis. He has dragged them across the finish line in wins over the Celtics, Thunder and Mavericks earlier this season, but it’s clear the burden needs to be lessened. Curry needs help.
On Thursday night, Kuminga staked a loud claim for extra crunch-time duties. Kerr played him more than 30 minutes for the first time this season. He kept him on the floor the entire fourth quarter. Kuminga responded with 14 fourth-quarter points as part of his career-high 33 on 13-of-22 shooting. At closing time, he finished.
“It can absolutely be a weapon,” Kerr said. “I think the biggest thing with our team right now is we can see that we have chemistry, we can see how hard guys play. We just have to find the combinations that we can count on.”
Steve Kerr on Jonathan Kuminga as a scoring option late in games: “I think it can absolutely be a weapon.” pic.twitter.com/rSHQwydmOM
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) December 6, 2024
Kuminga has started at power forward the last two games next to Kevon Looney with Green out. Without Curry against the Rockets, the Warriors put Hield in the starting lineup to keep an extra level of spacing for Kuminga and Wiggins to attack downhill. Both did. Wiggins had 23. They were the only two Warriors players in double figures.
“The floor has been opened up a little bit the last couple games for JK,” Kerr said. “But can we get him out there more with Draymond, with Loon? But as a (power forward) like he’s been playing the last couple of nights. That’s really the key. We just have a lot of guys, so we have to sort through all this. But there’s no question we can do more of this.”
Friday night could stretch the limits of Kerr’s frontcourt puzzle. Green could return from his recent absence. Kerr has been adamant that he wants to start a center next to Green. Looney has been excellent. Wiggins is having a bounce-back season. The last time all three were available, Kuminga only received 19 minutes in Phoenix. He had a three-game stretch before that at 18, 15 and 19 minutes.
Considering Kuminga’s considerable talent and upside as a shot-creator on a team that desperately needs help in that category, can the Warriors really afford to keep him in that minimized of a role?
“I think he showed that he can do it,” Looney said. “I think that’s the next step for him. Each game is different. We don’t ask him to score every game. Some nights we need him to get 20, 30 points. Other nights he might not get that many touches. But I think he showed he can score, he can get to the rim, get to the foul line when we need him to. So, I think that’s going to be part of our evolution as a team, him and Wiggs stepping up to be able to score for us in the fourth quarter and not just depending on Steph the whole time.”
(Photo: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
