After the Warriors lost to the Kings, Jonathan Kuminga talked about what went wrong on both ends of the floor.
On the second night of a back-to-back, the Warriors, playing without Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler, and Draymond Green, were unable to pull out a victory against the Sacramento Kings, falling 121-116.
The youthful starting lineup that Steve Kerr sent out showed its inexperience as the game progressed, initially jumping out to a large lead in the first half before relinquishing it due to a plethora of mistakes on both ends of the floor.
Jonathan Kuminga Points To Third-Quarter Turnovers And Fouls
In the postgame press conference, Jonathan Kuminga honed in on the Warriors' lackluster third-quarter play as a major reason for the loss.
"I think we came out with great energy. Just going into the third quarter, we started turning the ball over, started fouling their shooters. I think that took the energy out of all of us, especially after every turnover we did, including mine."
"They were able to score after every turnover. It's just something we got to go through all day, especially around that time. A lot of people are tired or something like that, we just got to find a way to execute certain plays when we're tired or just in the third quarter in general."
As Kuminga said, it was a fast start for the Warriors, and they went into halftime leading by 5.
However, 8 turnovers and 11 fouls in the third quarter alone allowed the Kings to outscore the Warriors 35-23 and control the rest of the game.
Kuminga's comments echoed what Kerr said in his own press conference — there were simply too many turnovers for the Warriors to overcome.
Kuminga Posts Up-And-Down Game
The fifth-year forward has had a strong start to the season after taking most of the offseason to resolve a contract dispute. Heading into the game, Kuminga was averaging career-highs across the board with 16.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 3.1 assists while shooting 53.4% from the field and 41.7% from three.
Even though he finished the game with 24 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists, Kuminga only managed to put up 7 second-half points — an issue when the forward needed to be one of the major contributors with the stars out.
Kuminga also had 5 turnovers and was in foul trouble for most of the second half, making this a positive performance littered with some glaring pitfalls.
Games like these may be more common than Kerr and the Warriors hope, considering the age of the Warriors' stars. As the season goes on, the hope is that Kuminga and the rest of the young players, such as Moses Moody and rookie phenom Will Richard, will continue to improve and be able to step into the shoes vacated by the likes of Curry, Butler, or Green.
The Warriors look to get back to full strength as they travel to Denver to face the Nuggets for the second time this season on Friday night.