Jonathan Kuminga is, for the lack of a better term, becoming Golden State’s garbage man. He started the first three games of the season but was then relegated to a bench role when Stephen Curry got injured.
Head coach Steve Kerr defended the decision by stating that he needed “more spacing” on the court and that Kuminga, a non-shooter, was better off as a bench player in Curry’s absence. Fair.
Then, when Curry returned, Kuminga was still brought off the bench. But since the Warriors were rolling, nobody blinked an eye.
On Wednesday, Curry was out with knee soreness, and Kuminga was abruptly reinserted into the starting unit after he missed the last two games with an illness.
In just his fourth start of the year, coming off an illness, Kuminga was understandably rusty. He shot 0-of-4 in the first quarter as OKC ran away with a 39-23 lead. Then, in the second, he provided a spark with 10 points and carried the form with another nine-point third quarter.
Kuminga’s aggression almost single-handedly brought the Warriors back into the game as the Thunder led 84-83 going into the fourth.
