MINNEAPOLIS >> Defended by four-time Defensive Player of the Year winner Rudy Gobert in the corner, Jonathan Kuminga was going to pass the ball to Draymond Green or one of his more accomplished teammates midway through the third quarter of the Warriors’ playoff game in Minneapolis on Thursday night.

But facing one of the game’s greatest challenges, teammate Jimmy Butler told him to “Go” to work in isolation.

“You know what, this was the moment, so just make something good happen,” Kuminga said. “Just having Jimmy and Draymond telling me, that shows big trust. I just had to make something happen.”The 22-year-old forward rewarded their confidence as he took three hard dribbles and slithered past Gobert on the Target Center baseline.

Once he was within striking distance, Kuminga crushed a reverse dunk over the 7-foot-1 Frenchman Gobert for two points that cut the once formidable Minnesota lead to just 10.

Minnesota eventually pulled away for a 117-93 victory that evened the Western Conference semifinal series at 1-1.

But during a game in which the Steph Curry-less Warriors used 14 players and struggled to find offense as their star sat with a hamstring injury, Kuminga provided a bright spot with 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting.

“Attack. We need as many individuals attacking as we can,” Butler said when asked about his message to Kuminga. “You get in there and nobody helps, then score.”

Kuminga has had trouble finding his role since coming back from a severe ankle injury in March.

The scoring chances and featured role he enjoyed before the injury evaporated after the Jimmy Butler trade, and his gaffes — defensively, passing and in shot selection — were more glaring in limited opportunities.

Kuminga’s role and minutes fluctuated toward the end of the regular season before he was dropped from the rotation completely for three games.

“I was very proud of the way he’s stayed ready, stayed positive,” coach Steve Kerr said. “This has not been an easy stretch for him, and he really came out and did a really great job today and showed what he’s made of. “

After Butler was injured in Game 2 of the opening-round series against Houston, Kuminga saw playing time for a couple games and then was a healthy scratch until he received a few minutes in Game 7 against Houston and Game 1 against Minnesota.

Even with Curry out, Kuminga had no idea he was going to play 26 minutes In Game 2.

“I wasn’t going out there expecting so many minutes. ... I knew that one of these days my name was going to be called, and that I would just go out there and make the best of it,” Kuminga said.

On a night when Kuminga’s youthful teammates Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody were mired in an offensive funk, it was another seldom-used frontcourt player who gave the Warriors a spark.

Trayce Jackson-Davis, a second-year interior presence out of Indiana, scored 15 points and was 6-for-6 from the field, giving Gobert fits with his rim-running and above-the-rim athleticism.

He and Kuminga said they have developed a friendship, which has helped the two stay positive as the minutes have become hard to find.

“Off the court, we just goof around, that’s all,” Kuminga said. “I think that people don’t see it, but me and Trayce have a really good friendship, and we stay talking, trying to keep it simple.”

As a member of the Green Machine, the group of deep reserves who generally only play when the game is well out of reach, Jackson-Davis showed he might deserve a larger role.

Kuminga is not part of the Green Machine, but he has guaranteed himself more minutes in today’s Game 3 in San Francisco with his strong play Thursday.

The Warriors will probably need him to perform at a high level if they are to have any hope of staying afloat until Curry returns.

“Obviously, he’ll be back out there for Game 3,” Kerr said about Kuminga, “and we’ll need him.”