By: Matt Anderson

The Warriors survived their first-round series against the Sacramento Kings on the back of a 50-point masterclass by Stephen Curry. They now have a second-round date with the Los Angeles Lakers, who rather easily dispatched the vaunted Memphis Grizzlies.

Almost as notable as the 50 spot is the fact that Steph gave an impassioned team talk during a film session the day before, asking players to put their egos aside and commit to winning. According to The Athletic's Marcus Thompson II and Shams Charania, this talk was directly aimed at two players: Jordan Poole and Jonathan Kuminga, who have allegedly been unhappy about their playing time or their roles. Poole played the 6th most minutes on the team in the series, but was largely ineffective, posting an anemic 102 offensive rating and a 0.396 effective field goal percentage. In short, Poole was outplayed by Malik Monk, the Kings' sixth man, and it was not particularly close. Poole's frustration was on full display after the Game 6 collective bed-shitting, his worst performance of the series.

Despite a fantastic final two months of the regular season, on both ends, Coach Steve Kerr made JK an afterthought, playing the second-year man a 36 total minutes in the series. Kuminga played almost 30 minutes less than Moses Moody, who had been buried on the bench all season. It's no shock that Kuminga was not in the best of moods as the series came down to its final game.

The Warriors, however, have to get ready for a new opponent: the Lakers. This Lakers team presents different matchups than the Kings did. Anthony Davis will be patrolling the lane, and he's on a defensive tear right now. To counter that, the Warriors will need crafty inside finishes and consistent outside shooting. Two things Poole can be elite at, when he's on his A-game. Instead of offense coming from a shifty guard like De'Aaron Fox, the Lakers are going to throw Lebron James and AD at the Warriors' defense. This means players like Gary Payton II and Donte DiVincenzo will have less of a defensive role because the Dubs will need bigger, stronger defenders. Playing tough D on bigger forwards had become JK's calling card by season's end.

The Warriors are going to need Jordan and Jonathan. Poole will need to figure out how to get out of his slump without turning into Chuck-It Jordan. He cannot be outplayed by Austin Reaves or Dennis Schroeder, at least on the offensive end, and he cannot let them completely torch him on D. Kuminga is going to be called on to play minutes against Lebron. He has to summon the defensive tenacity and acumen we saw the last few months of the season after spending the last two weeks on the bench. He also has to figure out the Lakers defense. In their regular season meetings, LA was masterful in sagging off him and tricking him into shooting jumpers. If he wants to stay on the floor, he's going to have to successfully navigate attacking the space and moving the ball.

TL;DR: Poole needs to bring the offense and be serviceable on D; Kuminga needs to bring the defense and be serviceable on offense.

But their play matters not just for this series, but for the Warriors' plans moving forward. If JP and JK continue to mope and cannot play an effective role against the Lakers, that might spell the end of the season. If Round 1 proved anything, it's that there is still enough there with Steph, Klay and Draymond Green that the team cannot break them up. In short, Poole and Kuminga are going to have to get with the program (a program built on selflessness). They need to show they buy into the Warriors' culture, a culture where a unanimous MVP and a Defensive Player of the Year come off the bench voluntarily, where winning is put before ego and stats. If they do that, the Warriors will have a great chance at moving on to their seventh Western Conference Finals in nine years. If they don't, then don't be surprised if the front office decides they have better value on the trade market than the basketball court.