Jonathan Kuminga of the Golden State Warriors.
The Golden State Warriors have an important stretch of basketball ahead of them before the playoffs. If they want to keep their spot in the West postseason race, they can’t afford many slip-ups, especially with how much they’ve struggled on the road.
However, they are currently on a two-game road winning streak, including a huge win over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night. After the win over Dallas, Warriors star Stephen Curry spoke about the play of youngster Jonathan Kuminga.
“He’s showing his ability was a two-way guy,” Curry said via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel. “Being comfortable out there, taking on the challenge defensively and also finding his spots offensively. Cutting. Using his athleticism. He knocked down two threes in the first half, I think. So, just to know he’s just getting more comfortable as time goes on with what we’re asking him to do defensively, and him finding his sweet spots in our system. I hope he’s having fun doing it as well because it’s obviously showing up in the statute and helping us win, but it’s also- that eye test says that he looks comfortable out there. So, that means a lot.”
Kuminga was crucial in the Warriors’ win over Dallas. He was the team’s leading scorer on the night, finishing the game with 22 points, three rebounds, one assist, and two steals on 9-of-11 shooting from the field and 2-of-3 shooting from behind the three-point line.
As for Curry, he also played a solid game against the Mavericks. He finished the night with 20 points, five rebounds, and 13 assists on 9-of-18 shooting from the floor and 2-of-8 shooting from beyond the three-point arc.
Steve Kerr Shows Love to Draymond Green
While Kuminga and Curry may have led the way in the scoring column, Draymond Green played a huge role for the Warriors as well. After the game, head coach Steve Kerr praised him for his play on both ends of the court.
“We got some key stops,” Kerr said via NBC Sports Bay Area. “I thought Draymond was incredible down the stretch defensively. Offensively, he sealed his guy on Steph’s layup with eight seconds left, which was a brilliant play. But I just thought we got key stops when we needed to down the stretch.”
Stephen Curry Sounds Off on Luka Doncic
On the flip side of the coin, Luka Doncic is the unquestioned leader of the Mavericks, but he couldn’t lead his team to a win on Wednesday night. After the game, Curry sent a strong message on the Dallas superstar.
“I mean, for the most part, we put him on the free throw line too much in the first half. But Luka is interesting,” Curry said via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel. “He’s going to get his numbers because he’s good, first and foremost, but they have a team formed around him that gives him a lot of space, and he’s great at picking and choosing his spots. Whether he’s looking for a shot or putting pressure on you in the paint to kick out to shooters. They made 17 threes off of a lot of his gravity, so you got to live with some of that stuff, and you got to live with him having big numbers because, again, he’s that great, and he has a lot of opportunity.”
