Kerr on sitting Kuminga: Need to play him more

SAN FRANCISCO — When Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr scanned the box score of his team’s 130-127 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night, a number jumped out at him that he believed needed to change.

Forward Jonathan Kuminga played just 19 minutes. After he was pulled with 5:48 left in the third quarter and the Warriors trailing by two, Kuminga never returned. The Nuggets closed the game on a 25-4 run.

“I’ve got to get him out there for longer, but these are really difficult decisions,” Kerr said Friday ahead of the Warriors’ game against the Detroit Pistons. “Because it’s not just as simple as how many minutes a guy plays. It’s who’s playing, what’s the combination, what’s happening in the game.”

He added: “We have a lot of people who are very capable of being out there.”

Kerr’s decision to bench Kuminga for the final 17:48 caused Kuminga to lose faith in Kerr, according to a report in The Athletic.

Kerr said he had a conversation with Kuminga during the 20 hours between their back-to-back games and also encouraged the entire team to voice any displeasures or frustrations they have to him, saying his “door is always open.”

“It’s a difficult situation because every player naturally has his own goals, his own dreams,” Kerr said. “Everybody wants to flourish. Everybody wants to blossom. … I have very difficult decisions to make each and every night. JK is a young player who is growing. He’s getting better. It’s why he’s in the starting lineup.”

Friday’s game marked Kuminga’s 12th consecutive start.

Against the Nuggets, Kerr chose not to put Kuminga back in because he wanted to stick with Andrew Wiggins, who helped the Warriors outscore the Nuggets 44-24 in the third quarter. Kerr prefers not to play Kuminga and Wiggins together because their games are too similar, the coach said.

“I played for 15 years, and all 15 I was frustrated with my playing time,” Kerr said. “This is how it works. This is the most competitive, lucrative league in the world. Every team has 15 to 17 guys who are all dying to play. Everyone’s frustrated. A big part of being successful in this league is learning how to navigate that frustration.”