Warriors incredible win may have raised more questions than answers

The Golden State Warriors produced a remarkable turnaround against the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night, outscoring the visitors by 38 points after the first possession of the second-quarter to flip a 20-point deficit into an 18-point win.

Playing without their two leading offensive players in Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins, the Warriors depth again came through highlighted by 21 points from Lindy Waters III and 19 fourth-quarter points from Buddy Hield.

Tuesday's win over the Pelicans may have raised more questions than answers for the Warriors

Waters and Hield were ably supported by Brandin Podziemski (19 points and five assists) and Moses Moody (17 points on 5-of-6 three-point shooting) who each started, while Jonathan Kuminga responded positively from his benching with a season-high 17 points along with three rebounds, three assists and three steals in just over 28 minutes.

Aside from Hield's scorching fourth-quarter, Waters and Kuminga certainly emerged as the major talking points from the game. The latter's demotion to the bench was already a huge topic pre-game when that news was delivered in quite dramatic fashion from ESPN's Shams Charania, while Kuminga's initial response via Danny Emerman of Bay Area News Group also rose concerns.

To Kuminga's credit, he played his best game of the short season so far just when Golden State needed it most But that doesn't dismiss the further questions that arise from his move to the bench, even if he did play a season-high 28 minutes.

After failing to reach a contract extension prior to the October 21 deadline, Kuminga's performances will always be viewed within the context of his restricted free agency next offseason. The hope was that he would have a solidified starting role playing 30+ minutes a game by his fourth year, but if that's not the case as Tuesday suggests, how can the Warriors commit $100 million to him let alone over double that.

As for Waters, how can he not play more moving forward after a breakout performance that also included eight rebounds and four assists? Yet at the same time, who falls out of a healthy rotation to make room for him?

Kerr joked post-game that he may need to extend his 12-man rotation to 13, but it's no laughing matter. The head coach continues to have agonizing decisions to make, and Waters only made it more difficult with a standout performance that was followed by Kerr labelling him "one of our best players" from day one of training camp.

With Curry, Melton and potentially Wiggins still on the sidelines for Wednesday's re-match against the Pelicans, Kerr's rotation headaches may be eased somewhat with less options. That doesn't change the fact this will be an ongoing storyline throughout the entire season, and that Tuesday's win may have actually raised more questions than answers.