The Golden State Warriors’ free fall continued Friday night, although this time they had at least a small excuse. With Steph Curry given a scheduled day of rest and Draymond Green also sidelined with a back injury, the Dubs were shorthanded, and it showed against the LA Clippers, who took an early lead and largely cruised to a 102-92 win.

In the absence of Curry and Green, Golden State’s veterans have struggled to assert themselves and make an impact. Dennis Schröder led the four veteran starters with just seven points despite shooting just 3 of 11 (including 0 of 6 from distance) and committing three turnovers. The other three senior starters scored just five points each: Andrew Wiggins on 2-for-11 shooting, Buddy Hield on 2-for-8 shooting and Kyle Anderson on 2-for-4 shooting. Only second-year pro Trayce Jackson-Davis, recently reinstated to the starting lineup, performed well in the top five: The left-hander scored 15 points with nine rebounds, two assists and two blocks, shooting 7 of 12 from the field the field.

But while Jackson-Davis shined, the brightest member of Golden State’s roster was another young man: Jonathan Kuminga. Recently returned to the sixth man role, Kuminga was easily the Warriors’ best player on Friday… and arguably the best player on both teams.

Kuminga was active and aggressive in every facet of the game, leading all scorers with 34 points, while also grabbing ten rebounds, dishing out five assists and recording two steals and a block. He shot an extremely efficient 11-for-19 from the field and continued his recent streak of repeated contact (while also making his free throws) as he went 11-for-14 from the charity stripe. Unfortunately, his aggressiveness wasn’t matched by his teammates… Kuminga may have had 14 free throws, but the rest of the Warriors combined to only shoot six.

The rest of the bench was better than the starting unit but still struggled. Kevon Looney and Lindy Waters III scored donuts in the score column, and while Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody scored in double figures, neither was efficient (10 points on nine shots for the former; 11 points on 11 shots and two free throws for). latter).

As a team, the Warriors shot an abysmal 18.4% from three-point range. Even though they forced 21 turnovers and only managed 14 turnovers, you can’t ignore a shooting night like that. If Curry had been healthy, things might have been different, but Kuminga could only carry the team so far.

After starting the year 12-3, the Dubs have now fallen to .500 at 15-15. On Saturday night, when they host the Phoenix Suns at 5:30 p.m. PT, they have a chance to climb back above .500 — or fall below it for the first time this year. Curry and Green are expected to return for this game, Steve Kerr announced after Friday’s loss.