SAN FRANCISCO – Jonathan Kuminga embraced being put back in the Warriors’ starting lineup the same way he handled things when coach Steve Kerr benched him nearly a month ago.
No muss, no fuss.
After a somewhat sluggish start, Kuminga showed why it hasn’t been a big deal whether he’s starting or coming off the bench.
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Playing for the first time since sitting out a pair of games with a stomach illness, Kuminga dropped 19 points with four rebounds, two assists and two steals in Golden State's 105-101 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday at Chase Center.
JK DROPS THE HAMMER 🤯 pic.twitter.com/22UZFgVKqQ
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Afterward, Kuminga explained his rationale of handling being benched then put back in with the starting unit.
“When [they] took me out the starting five, I didn’t complain,” Kuminga said. “Coming in today and telling me that I’m going to be in the starting five, I was happy but that hasn’t affected me at all. I still go out there and just play and be free. It’s not something that really affected me or anything like that.”
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Golden State played without star Stephen Curry, so it was on the rest of the Warriors to make up for his absence. Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Brandin Podziemski held it down for the starters, while Buddy Hield, Kyle Anderson and Pat Spencer provided big lifts off the bench.
Kuminga played like he always has: with an aggressive, attacking mindset that helped him repeatedly get to the hoop.
“JK was getting to the hole; he wanted it,” Green said.
The night didn’t start out on a good note for Kuminga. He missed his first four shot attempts, including three 3-pointers and a layup.
Then he warmed up.
Kuminga scored 10 points in then second quarter and nine in the third when he connected on two of his 10 3-point tries. He finished the night shooting 8 of 11 overall, and 3 of 10 behind the arc.
“I was just rushing into things,” Kuminga said. “I haven’t played for like two days, but that shouldn’t be an excuse. I feel like I just settled down. I put a lot of pressure at the rim and that kind of helped us.
“Even if I don’t [score] and I put pressure at the rim, that helped me to kick it out and give guys easy shots. That’s just my main focus. All this work on finding a way to get there.”
Kerr said before the game that he liked having Kuminga come off the bench because it gives the Warriors’ second unit a reliable scorer and defender.
With Curry not playing against the Thunder, however, Kerr opted for more offense and went with Kuminga as a starter.
“We feed off him,” Spencer said. “He has the ability to get downhill and create offense. We’ve got some guys that are really specialty players that can do things really well, that can shoot the ball right. JK’s one of those guys that can really put pressure on the rim. When he brings that force, we’re a different team. You can’t teach that athleticism.”
The No. 7 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, Kuminga has made significant strides over the last 15 months and is evolving into the player the Warriors hoped he eventually would be.
“I feel like I have been consistent just going out there and being the guy they want me to be, being a scorer, being a play-maker, being a defender and try to rebound more and just being consistent on defense,” Kuminga said. “I feel like it’s been a great role and I’m happy with it. I haven’t complained or anything.”