The Golden State Warriors have hit their first rough patch of the NBA season. Starting the year on fire, Golden State has now lost three-straight games for the first time this season. The most recent loss came to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a game that Steph Curry did not play due to injury.
The Warriors trailed by as many as 19 points in this game, but had a chance to tie on the final possession. Making a nice pass to a cutting Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green found his teammate for the game-tying layup attempt. A bit off-balance, Wiggins was unable to convert, and Oklahoma City escaped with a victory.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr made a starting lineup change for this game, subbing in Brandin Podziemski for the injured Curry, and also inserting Jonathan Kuminga into the starting five.
“Steph not being there definitely influences things for us,” Kerr explained after the game.
“Pairing Trayce [Jackson-Davis] and Draymond without Steph, without a pick and roll player, makes it really tricky offensively. So that’s why I did it.”
Kuminga had 19 points on just 8/21 shooting. Resharing a highlight dunk from the young forward, Green sent a strong message to him on Instagram.
“Just live in your promise,” Green wrote. “Be the ⭐️ are Young! It’s time”
The Warriors reportedly held Kuminga out of multiple different trade scenarios this offseason, showing a lot of belief in the former lottery pick. Kuminga’s minutes and role have not quite reflected that belief this season, as he has started only four games and is averaging just 23 minutes per contest.
Because the Warriors are still in win-now mode, Kerr is not going to give Kuminga extended minutes solely for the purpose of his development. Averaging 13.6 points on 43.8% from the field and 30.5% from deep, Kuminga has shown flashes this season, but has not been as consistent as the team would like to see.
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Gilgeous-Alexander’s Brutally Honest Thoughts on the Warriors Leave Fans Speechless
Playing against the Golden State Warriors will test a team’s capabilities in a way that very few teams can test them. The Warriors’ abillity to both move off of the ball and play gritty defense is something that every team has to be aware of, including the first-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.
After the Thunder defeated the Warriors on Wednesday night, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander revealed his thoughts on playing against them. Shai admitted that playing against the Warriors is a dogfight.
“Every time you play this team it’s a dogfight,” Shai said.
“They won at a high level for so long for a reason. No matter who’s out there, no matter who’s not playing, they play the right way, they play together and they play physical. We knew that coming into the night and we did enough of that obviously barring some injuries to get a dub.”
Entering Wednesday night’s game, the Warriors and Thunder were contending for the first-seed of the Western Conference; whoever won the game would have finished the night as the first seed. Even without Steph Curry, the Warriors pushed the Thunder all the way to the buzzer before ultimately collapsing in the fourth quarter.
With the way the season is going, no one should be shocked to see the Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors face off in the Western Conference Finals of the NBA Playoffs. That will be the truest test to see if Shai and the Thunder are finally ready to make that jump.
