Greatness tests every empire by tempting it with collapse. The Golden State Warriors now stare into that void as their 3-1 cushion has vanished, crumbling beneath a 107- 115 blow in Houston. A brutal Game 7 on the road awaits, win or go home. No excuses this time. Stephen Curry logged 42 minutes. So did Jimmy Butler. Yet the Rockets smelled blood and bit hard. Meanwhile, the silence around Jonathan Kuminga grew louder. Now with everything on the line, the question lingers—will Steve Kerr finally let him in?

Another DNP in Game 6, still benched, Kuminga began the playoffs on the sidelines, reappeared briefly during Jimmy Butler’s injury, then vanished again. Since his last outing in Game 3, the Warriors have stumbled, dropping Games 5 and 6. With chaos in the rotation and everything at stake, maybe it’s time Kerr finally listens. But if Coach Kerr doesn’t pay any heed:

“If they lose Game 7, Steve Kerr will forever come under criticism as to why he didn’t play his third-leading scorer against this very iteration of the Rockets. I don’t care what JK has or hasn’t done in this series — Kerr will have to answer that for the rest of his career,” 5x Emmy winner and TV sports commentator Dan Devone said via Warriors this Week.

Game 6 slipped through the Warriors’ fingers, and Steve Kerr might have helped it fall. He chose Gary Payton II over Jonathan Kuminga — result, minus 12 and just 32 paint points. Meanwhile, Houston’s bigs kept pounding. Now, with Game 7 looming, the question is simple — will Kerr finally play his power card? However, the errors didn’t show up in Game 5 alone.

The veteran coach pulled an odd experiment in Game 5. Down by 29, Steve Kerr waved the white flag early, pulling his starters by the third. Jimmy Butler played just 25 minutes, Curry 23. But the bench? They nearly sparked a miracle, cutting it to 11 and forcing Houston’s starters back in with 7:59 left. “I thought that was important,” Kerr said, proud of the late fire that made the Rockets sweat.

While Kerr’s move was strategic, it misjudged the psychological pulse of the game. It gave up momentum, denied key players a chance to fight back, and ultimately failed to shake the Houston Rockets‘ confidence. Thus ending that Game 5 with a 131-116, Ime Udoka marched ahead to claim the throne. And now when everything depends on Game 7, Stephen Curry cannot keep calm.

Stephen Curry fumes as Steve Kerr’s major mistakes lead to a deciding Game 7

Houston’s game plan was simple: make life miserable for Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler. They contested every Curry shot, forcing him to go 9 of 23, with tough looks all around. The defense clogged lanes for Butler, preventing him from finding mismatches. Meanwhile, the rest of the Warriors faltered, with the non-Curry starters shooting a miserable 3 of 18 from deep. Buddy Hield missed all four of his attempts, Payton went 2 of 5, and Draymond Green shot just 3 of 8.

“If they’re going to do this and they’re going to play zone and make certain guys shoot it, then it’s the same way we talk about all season,” a furious Steph Curry said. “Everybody’s in this league for a reason. If you have a shot, take it. I don’t need to say anything. Coach doesn’t need to say anything. You’re out there, be aggressive. Look for your shot. We’ll live with it. That’s the name of the game. The shots that we’re creating or the shots that are open, keep taking ’em.”

Curry wasn’t happy with the lack of fire in his teammates in Game 6. There was frustration on his face when he sat on the bench to cool down in Q3. The Golden State Warriors had a chance to turn the tables, but one mistake after the other pushed them down the line.

Thus, between shaky rotations, missed shots, and silence around Jonathan Kuminga, the cracks only widened. Now, with Stephen Curry fuming and the Rockets rolling, Game 7 is no longer just a battle. It’s a reckoning — for Steve Kerr, for Golden State, for everything they thought they had figured out.