The Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers were the must-watch game heading into Sunday’s final NBA slate. Especially as the game progressed, the stakes became even higher after it was apparent that the winner would claim a top-six seed and the loser would be sent to the play-in tournament.
In an entertaining contest, the Clippers pulled out the win in overtime, led by 39 points from James Harden. While Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler starred, third-leading scorer Jonathan Kuminga spent the entire game on the bench. In an eyebrow-raising move by head coach Steve Kerr, ex-Clippers guard Patrick Beverley came to Kuminga’s defense in a recent post.
agree but playoffs and single game elimination is diff than regular season. he needs to be on the court.
he has intangibles that don’t show up on the box score. he impacts winning. @PatBevPod https://t.co/TRfVtYAlwi
— Patrick Beverley (@patbev21) April 14, 2025
In response to a post saying that the Warriors are better without Kuminga on the floor, the former NBA veteran took the other side of the argument. “agree but playoffs and single game elimination is diff than regular season. he needs to be on the court,” Beverley shared on X. “he has intangibles that don’t show up on the box score. he impacts winning. “
A very pro-player advocate, Beverley is often coming to the defense of players, such as he’s done for Russell Westbrook. Especially given the contract year that Kuminga is in, sitting on the bench in a must-win game was a bad look for his future negotiations with the team.
Golden State begins their play-in tournament journey Tuesday night against the Memphis Grizzlies, as eyes will be on the Warriors to see if Kuminga plays a bigger role in another must-win game.
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