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In a muddied win for the Warriors on Friday night, beating the lowly New Orleans Pelicans 111-95 at Smoothie King, they needed someone who could, well, get it out the mud.
Steph Curry’s return of course was vital, scoring 23 points in 34 minutes after missing the previous two games – two losses to teams with losing records – because of a pelvic contusion. His second-quarter barrage of 13 points and making three 3-pointers proved to be huge on a night where the rest of the Warriors combined to go 8 of 39 (20.5 percent) from deep. Those are the kinds of games the Warriors need someone to put their head down and get to the rim.
That’s where Jonathan Kuminga always has been the X-factor that can lift the Warriors or be a chess piece trying to fit a jigsaw puzzle.
Kuminga scored 16 points in 23 minutes, leading all reserves, going 5 of 9 from the field. His seven rebounds also were his most since missing over two months to a bad ankle injury.
“Jonathan was good,” Kerr said to reporters after the win. “He gives us the attack to the rim. He got to the foul line eight times, rebounded well, so I thought he had a good night.”
It was the way Kerr used Kuminga offensively that really stood out. Not by mistake, the Warriors coach took advantage of the way Kuminga and Curry can complement each other with their differing skill sets.
A little over a minute after entering the game for Jimmy Butler, Kuminga had his first bucket of the night. Curry took the inbounds pass from a made free throw, darted past his man to the left wing where Kuminga met him. There, Kuminga set a screen for Curry, making both defenders guard the sharpshooter, and immediately rolled to the hoop. Curry found him and after taking one dribble, Kuminga jump stopped off two feet for a left-handed layup.
He surveyed the defense, found his way to the paint and pulled up for a 10-foot floater for his first bucket of the second quarter. Kuminga’s next basket was an alley-oop layup finish off a pretty pass from Draymond Green, but it began with him again being a screener for Curry, making two guys follow Steph,…
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Publish date : 2025-03-29 11:02:00
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