Warriors Fans Put Steve Kerr on Hot Seat After Benching Jonathan Kuminga vs. Nuggets

The heat is increasing on Steve Kerr after Thursday's 130-127 loss to the Denver Nuggets dropped the Golden State Warriors' record this season to 16-18.

This game will be remembered for Nikola Jokić's game-winning three at the buzzer, but to use an old sports-television prompt, the Warriors lost this one more than the Nuggets won it.

The Warriors led by 18 points with under seven minutes to play in the fourth quarter. They proceeded to make one field goal and score four points over the final 6:51, allowing the Nuggets to leave Chase Center with a win.

One subject of controversy coming out of the game was Kerr's decision to sit Jonathan Kuminga for the entire fourth quarter.

Kerr explained after the loss that he decided to stick with Andrew Wiggins on the court because they were playing well, and by the time they would have gone back to Kuminga it "didn't feel like it was the right thing to do" because he's been "sitting for awhile."

As you might expect, this explanation didn't go over well with analysts and Warriors fans.

Kuminga played the fewest minutes of any Golden State starter (19), yet he still managed to score 16 points in part by getting to the free-throw line seven times. He was plus-six in those 19 minutes, best of any Warriors player.

Draymond Green's indefinite suspension has left a huge void in Golden State's defense. Kuminga isn't that caliber of defensive player, but he's capable of causing problems for everyone on the Nuggets outside of Jokić.

It's probably not a coincidence that Denver's rally coincided with Kuminga sitting on the bench. Kerr needs to start putting some trust in younger players on this roster if the Warriors want to have a chance at competing for a playoff spot this season.

The Warriors will look to right the ship on Friday when they host the Detroit Pistons at Chase Center.