SAN FRANCISCO – It is becoming apparent that Jonathan Kuminga is a thrill ride, by turns delightful and upsetting, incredible or unwatchable, with the Warriors hanging on and hoping and perhaps praying the highs become frequent enough to obscure the lows.
They got their wish Saturday night, as Kuminga’s game-high 34 points and nine rebounds rendered his errors irrelevant and allowed the Warriors to walk out of Chase Center with a 109-105 victory over the Phoenix Suns.
“He was fantastic,” coach Steve Kerr said. “This is exactly what we’re looking for. And it’s fun to see him deliver.”
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If ever the Warriors wanted Kuminga to shine, it is now. He was coming off a dazzling performance Friday night – career-high 34 points, 10 rebounds – in a road loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. Every shot-caller and supporter on the Golden State payroll wanted nothing more than a satisfying encore.
Kuminga’s pattern of inconsistency is high among the factors keeping him from stardom. The internal belief his ability will level off will dictate his future with the franchise and, perhaps, his career in the NBA.
“I’m so impressed with JK,” Kerr said. “I just think he’s turning a corner.”
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Draymond Green has been a Kuminga booster from Day 1 and nothing has changed. He does not seem surprised with the ascent.
“One of the most talented guys on this team by far,” Green said of Kuminga. “It’s good to see him playing the way he’s playing. And we just need him to stay that aggressive. When he’s on the court, we’re going to feature him. It’s on him to do the rest. And he’s doing it. He more than capable.
“And he’ll continue to get better and continue to do more.”
Coming off the bench for the sixth consecutive game, Kuminga was a revelation throughout but turned nuclear in the fourth quarter. He played all 12 minutes, scoring 13 points and grabbing five rebounds.
JK’s jam cuts the deficit to five 💥 pic.twitter.com/Oi7yJOIXkt
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) December 29, 2024
Yes, Kuminga embraced the role of closer. And succeeded at both ends, as he often does defending Suns superstar Kevin Durant.
“He took on the challenge and made it difficult on [Durant],” Kerr said of Kuminga’s defense. “That’s all you can do. I thought he was great.”
Kuminga’s 34 points came on 12-of-20 shooting from the field, including 2 of 5 from distance. His efficiency more than offset a couple miscues, such as dribbling into traffic and losing the ball and failing to spot an open teammate when driving into the Phoenix defense.
The lows don’t matter when the highs are so stratospheric.
“Everybody in the organization has been a big part of it, helping me throughout every situation” Kuminga said of his surge. “Including my coaches, including Steve, including my teammates.
“I just feel like I’ve just been trying to win. That’s all.”
If ever the Warriors needed a win, a game to possibly launch momentum, it was this one. Having lost three in a row and 12 of their last 15, they were opening a six-game homestand realizing this is their best chance to salvage a season taking on water.
“It’s an important stretch for us for sure,” Kerr said before tip-off. “We’ve kind of come back from that hot start. We’ve cooled off obviously considerably and we’re kind of back in the pack again. You look at it big-picture wise, we’re only a couple games out from being in the four or five seed, so we’re not in a bad spot at all.
“This is all about us really rediscovering our identity.”
Kuminga took a huge step toward locking himself into that identity. With the Warriors struggling as they have been, It gets no better than to see the youngster they’ve invested in produce career games on back-to-back nights.