Steve Kerr Reveals Reason For Unexpected Closing Warriors Lineup

The Warriors closed with Jonathan Kuminga instead of Andrew Wiggins.

Steve Kerr took a huge gamble on opening night vs the Phoenix Suns when he benched Andrew Wiggins for Jonathan Kuminga. Unfortunately, it didn't pay off with a win, but it set a major tone for the Warriors' season this year. After the game, Kerr revealed why he made the decision.

"I thought both Kuminga and GP were defending at a high level and obviously you gotta guard Kevin and Book out there," Kerr said. "So, it felt like those guys were defending well and so we went with them. That's how it's going to be a lot of nights this year. Whoever's playing the best will finish the game."

“Whoever’s playing the best will finish the game.”

Steve Kerr on Kuminga closing the game over Wiggins pic.twitter.com/JPq2a7JIdc

— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) October 25, 2023

In all fairness, Andrew Wiggins was struggling tremendously on opening night, shooting 4/12 from the field and being a -22 in his minutes. Kuminga on the other hand shot  4/8 from the field and was a +4 in his minutes. The gamble on finishing with Kuminga almost paid off for the Warriors, but the team just couldn't close against the Suns and Kuminga missed two crucial free throws that would have given the Warriors the late lead.

If Kuminga is going to be closing more and more, which he should be, he'll have to improve his free throw shooting - last night was definitely an example of that. For Wiggins, he'll have to play closer to how he did during the 2022 season for the Warriors to have a chance this season.

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