With starters like Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins out with respective injuries, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr had to tweak his strategy against the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday.
The first adjustment Kerr made was that he replaced Jonathan Kuminga with Moody Moses. Kerr revealed he didn’t want to start with Trayce [Jackson-Davis], Draymond Green, and Kuminga as he wanted more spacing as Curry and Wiggins were already missing the starting five.
“Without Steph and Wiggs, I didn’t want to start Trayce [Jackson-Davis], Draymond [Green] and JK,” Kerr said after a 124-106 win. “I wanted a little more spacing. I knew it would be a JK game. I knew he would play a lot … this is just about combinations and getting a bit more spacing on the floor to start.
“All it is, is shuffling the lineup to try to get the right five-man grouping out there.”
Meanwhile, Kuminga finished with 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting, with 3 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block in a season-high 28 minutes, after coming off the bench.
Kuminga said he did what he was supposed to do after receiving a text about the tactics from his coach.
“It wasn’t my decision. I got a text, this is how it’s going to go, this is who it’s going to be, and I went with it,” Kuminga said. “What am I supposed to do … ask why am I not starting? This is the decision of the coach, and we will follow what he’s going to do.”
He continued: “At the end of the day, I’m still a professional. I’m going to do what I’ve got to do.”
“I thought JK was great,” Kerr said. “We’re going to need him, obviously. He is our most athletic player. He’s got great size. There are games like tonight where we have to have him and others where maybe things aren’t going his way. That’s OK.”
Warriors will once again take on the Pelicans on Wednesday.
