Steve Kerr dishes out punishment to Warriors guard after horror mistake

Brandin Podziemski has been viewed by many as a favorite of Steve Kerr's over his first three seasons in the league, but even he wasn't immune to a place on the bench following a horror defensive mistake in the first-quarter of the Golden State Warriors' 134-117 victory over the Utah Jazz at Chase Center on Monday night.

The Warriors got off to a slow start in the opening period, signified by Podziemski's defensive lapse that left Keyonte George -- who had already drilled his first three 3-pointers -- wide open on the right wing. The young guard duly knocked down his fourth three, forcing a timeout from an irate Kerr who was frustrated with his team's lack of defensive attentiveness.

Brandin Podziemski's role was reduced after Monday's defensive error

While Podziemski wasn't completely benched for the remainder of the game, he was removed from the rotation for an entire second-quarter where the Warriors outscored the Jazz 41-20 and completely flipped the momentum after trailing by nine at the end of the first period.

It was clearly a statement from Kerr that those sort of inexcusable mistakes won't be tolerated, even from someone who entered the game averaging the fourth-most minutes on the team behind the veteran trio of Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green.

With just over five minutes left in a game Golden State had in their keeping with a 23-point lead, Podziemski had played less than 13 total minutes. He did play the final five minutes, but that too might have been a punishment of sorts from Kerr who forced him to play in garbage time until the final buzzer.

Podziemski finished with six points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals in just under 18 minutes, shooting 1-of-4 from the floor and finishing as a -2 in his team's 17-point victory. It was a notable lack of playing time for the third-year guard, particularly when the Warriors were already without key rotation players Draymond Green, Jonathan Kuminga and Al Horford.

Gary Payton II, Will Richard and Trayce Jackson-Davis all played more minutes than Podziemski despite each spending time completely out of the rotation at different points so far this season. Buddy Hield too played more minutes, finding some form with a season-high 20 points to go with four rebounds and five assists on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor.

This might just be a one-off and Podziemski could be back to playing nearly 30 minutes on Wednesday against the Houston Rockets, but this was nonetheless a significant move that typified Kerr's urgency in drilling in important details to his players.