SAN FRANCISCO – Several times during timeouts in the fourth quarter of Thursday’s game against the Houston Rockets, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green implored Jonathan Kuminga to get the ball.
Kuminga did exactly that in a monumental way.
The No. 7 overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft, Kuminga scored 14 of his career-high 33 points in the fourth quarter, including a crucial driving layup with 16.9 seconds remaining to help the Warriors to a 99-93 victory over the Rockets.
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“They trusted me, and that kind of helped me to get confident,” Kuminga said. “I took a deep breath and just went out there and took care of the ball.”
Kuminga was brilliant in the fourth quarter. He repeatedly made good on his patented powerful drives, connected on a par of middys and had an assist in the final 12 minutes.
In essence, Kuminga filled the role of closer while Golden State's go-to closers – Curry and Green – watched and cheered from the bench.
“He showed that he can do it,” Warriors center Kevon Looney said. “He showed that he can score, get to the rim, get to the foul line when we need him to. That’s going to be a part of our evolution as a team, him stepping up and (Andrew Wiggins) stepping up to be able to score for us in the fourth quarter and not depending on Steph the whole time."
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Houston went into the night with the second-best record in the Western Conference while the Warriors were riding a five-game losing streak.
With Curry and Green nursing injuries and unavailable to play, the Warriors were minus their two best players in crunch time.
Passes that would normally go to those two for clutch shots wound up in Kuminga’s hands, and he delivered first class.
“A good learning lesson,” Kuminga said. “Obviously we go to Steph most of the time. Just havig that experience of knowing what you need to do out there anytime, even when Steph comes back and Draymond comes back. You never know when moments like that will come around.”
For a good chunk of the season the Warriors have had a tough time closing out games, and for a few moments it looked like the Rockets would add another disappointing chapter when the closed a seven-point lead to 77-76 early in the fourth quarter.
That’s when Kuminga began his scoring blitz but it wasn’t until the final minute that he really shined.
After Houston got within 96-93 in the final minute, Warriors coach Steve Kerr called timeout and drew up a play for Kuminga.
Career-high 33 for JK 😮💨
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) December 6, 2024
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Kuminga once again got the ball and attacked, driving right between Rockets’ defenders Fred Van Vleet and Dillon Brooks to score.
“He was having a great night and it was a no-brainer to get him the ball,” Kerr said. “JK just made the play. He got a couple of ghost screens, one from Buddy (Hield), one from Brandin (Podziemski), just to try to confuse the switch a little bit. JK just attacked, and that was the play of the game.
“It was just a beautiful drive and capped off a phenomenal night for him. He was brilliant.”