SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors’ worst moments this year have gone mostly the same: A younger, athletic and often bigger opponent makes their tried-and-true lineups look stale, a little too tried.
Some of the Warriors’ best moments are when they’ve taken on that brawn with a little of their own. In their meltdown loss to Sacramento weeks ago, it was Moses Moody who nearly saved the day, matching Malik Monk’s flurry with scrappiness and timely shooting. Rookie Brandin Podziemski forced his way into the lineup with his smarts and pace, and even blew up one of the star-studded Clippers’ pet plays in a win just days later.
In Wednesday’s comeback win against the lowly Portland Trial Blazers, it was Jonathan Kuminga who saved the day. With Andrew Wiggins and Chris Paul back from injury, Kuminga was a pre-determined rotation sacrifice. He watched all from the bench Portland’s young tandem of Shaedon Sharpe and Anfernee Simons take an 11-point lead paving a path to the rim, hitting open shots to boot, while freezing shut the Warriors’ motion offense.
What should have been an easy win was snowballing into another familiar loss. So coach Steve Kerr deviated from the game plan and with 4:45 remaining down eight in the third quarter, Kuminga was on the court.
“This game called for JK, just with Portland’s youth and athleticism,” Kerr said. “We needed to be able to match that and be able to score against their switches. So I was so happy for JK, that he stayed ready and came in and produced the way he did.”
Kuminga made his presence felt immediately with a steal-and-dunk, then got up into Simons on defense. Kerr didn’t take him out for the final 17 minutes. He was the only one that night who could attack the paint with some consistency — he had 13 points going 6-for-6 with some crafty finishes and two daggers. His last bucket was a shattering alley-oop off a Draymond Green lob to extend a lead with a minute left.
One of his two steals came with a one-point lead and 30 seconds remaining, he turned a bad pass into a Curry 3-pointer and night-night celebration. He was a team-best plus-13.
“If he doesn’t do what he did, stay ready, show maturity, we lose this game,” Curry said.
Performances like Kuminga’s — and Moody and Podziemski before him — could shift the Warriors’ equilibrium for the better. Kerr has often publicly juggled his commitment to lean on his veterans with the games’ frequent demands to trust the young guns to counter the youth and athleticism that’s bogged them down. After games, he often grapples with his mistakes — such as pulling Moody off a hot streak against Sacramento — and acknowledges the performances outside of his familiar core that make his rotation choices more merit-based.
Should Moody get some of Klay Thompson’s minutes when the veteran is struggling — as he was on Wednesday? In some closing situations where Podziemski has proven valuable, does he cut to front of the long backcourt line? Kerr said Kuminga’s fall from the rotation had more to do with Moody and Podziemski earning the extra minutes off the bench, but does the math change against teams the 6-foot-7 wing best matches up against, such as Portland?
The go-to starting lineup of Curry, Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Green and Kevon Looney that looked particularly uninspired against Portland and all this season could be getting a makeover, Kerr said. Something Curry said they have to be open to.
“Results do matter. You plan on getting wins, finding a sense of identity. We haven’t had that. We’ve had injuries and all that and our starting lineup hasn’t been as great as it was before, for a couple reasons…(namely) us not thinking we can win games the same way we have all the time.”
The Warriors are built with a belief that their core knows better than any other how to get to the top again. But since this dynasty began, the toughest competition stifles old and small with youth and athleticism. Their best counter has been their own youth and athleticism blended with the explosiveness of Curry, Green and Co.
Those tough in-game decisions show in the Warriors’ mediocre record so far. Some of those decisions’ payoffs, so far, tell us leaning into the youth on hand could be a way out of the middle.