Golden State Warriors: Steve Kerr right to hold short leash with Jonathan Kuminga in Laker loss

After Steve Kerr described Thursday and Friday’s games as two of the best of Jonathan Kuminga’s career, the exciting second-year forward came back to earth slightly with just 13 minutes of action in the Golden State Warriors defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.

That included just over three minutes in a back-and-forth second-half where the Warriors were unable to complete a sixth-straight win. Kuminga had played a team-high 18:39 in the second-half against the Los Angeles Clippers last Thursday, and 17 minutes the following night against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Despite frustration among fans, Steve Kerr was right to pull a short leash on Jonathan Kuminga in the Golden State Warriors’ loss on Sunday.

Given the impressive performances in which he had 19 points and seven rebounds in each of the back-to-back games, many fans were left bemused by Kuminga’s limited playing time against the Lakers. Kerr instead turned to Anthony Lamb who played just over 27 minutes, while returning veteran Andre Iguodala also saw more court time than his 20-year-old teammate.

The issue of Kuminga or Lamb has been a bone of contention for almost everyone this season —  Kerr and the coaching staff have often grappled on who to play more, while most fans recognize that Kuminga provides at least a similar current output with far greater long-term potential.

Although that’s true, and Kuminga should be playing more than Lamb, it’s not a hard and fast rule for every game. Pencilling any bench player in for a guaranteed set of minutes would be showing an inflexibility that coaches simply shouldn’t have. Kuminga is still a role player after all, and therefore various in-game situations ask for different skillsets.

On Sunday the Lakers came in with a very decisive gameplan — show no respect to Kuminga’s perimeter game. The Warriors had done the same thing with Russell Westbrook on Thursday, a ploy that worked effectively as Golden State won by 24.

While Kuminga has shot 41% from three across his last 15 games, it’s not yet a strength of his evolving game. Often confident, sometimes to a fault, he was indecisive at times in response to the Lakers’ disrespect. Kuminga had nine field-goal attempts in less than 10 minutes during the first-half, but made just two and was a -12 in his time on the floor.

Kerr clearly recognized the need for a greater shooting threat in the second-half, hence why Lamb played 12 minutes in where he went 2-for-4 from deep. Lamb was also a team-high +18 in the first-half, while Iguodala was second at +14. Fans may not agree with the decision to play them more than Kuminga, but at least you can see a clear method and reasoning as to why it was the case.

Sunday’s game also signalled Lamb’s 50th and final one on a two-way contract, with the Warriors yet to make a decision on his future. Until they convert him to a full deal and make him once again available, expect Kuminga’s playing time to rise back up to over 20 minutes per game on a consistent basis.