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Warriors' Steve Kerr Announces Rotation Change for Game 3 vs. Timberwolves

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Sean Deveney | Last updated May 9, 2025 8:48 PM ET

By the end of the first quarter of Thursday's Western Conference semifinals in Minnesota, it was clear that Warriros coach Steve Kerr was scrambling. The Dubs were always going to need to tinker with their rotation with news that star guard Stephen Curry would be out for a week--at least--because of a hamstring injury suffered in Game 1. But in the first 12 minutes of the game, Kerr tried 11 different players.

That's a lot.

There wasn't much that worked in the 117-93 drubbing at the hands of Minnesota, but Kerr did take note of a couple of bright spots. One was forward Jonathan Kuminga, the one-time starter who was demoted from the starting five and eventually benched altogether. The other was big man Trayce Jackson-Davis.

Kuminga made his first eight shots on his way to 18 points, on 8-for-11 shooting. Jackson-Davis made all six of his attempts in the game, for 15 points in 19 minutes.

After the game, Kerr said, "“The domino effect of Steph being out led to Trayce playing tonight. Because we need the scoring, we need the finishing. You saw what he did out there. Same thing with JK.

“We had found a formula over the last couple of months and obviously we’re having a lot of success, but without Steph the formula completely goes out the window, and we’ve got to figure out the next one.”

The next one is almost upon us, and Kerr was asked on Friday whether a review of the tape left him with the impression that he should alter his rotation to accommodate Kuminga and Jackson-Davis.

Steve Kerr affirms that Kuminga and TJD will be part of Game 3 rotation.

"There's no Steph. It's a completely different team."

"Everything has to be about finding a new formula and JK is absolutely a part of that formula."

"(TJD) showed he can be effective against this team."
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) May 9, 2025

"There's no Steph. It's a completely different team," Kerr said, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic. "Everything has to be about finding a new formula and JK is absolutely a part of that formula. (TJD) showed he can be effective against this team."

While Jackson-Davis had no playoff experience coming into this season, Kuminga played 16 games, including three starts, in Golden State's 2022 championship run. He played 10 postseason games the following year.

The Wolves and Warriors tip off on Saturday night at the Chase Center in San Francisco.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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