The Golden State Warriors flipped the script with the Houston Rockets despite Jimmy Butler not carrying out taking a 2-1 lead in the series, and Jonathan Kminga showed him still lying down.
In recent weeks, it wasn’t a smooth sailing for Jonathan Cuminga, and he was left behind by Steve Kerr multiple times, losing his trust in his team.
However, when Kerr embraced himself, Butler’s injury forced him to look to Kuminga to start this game, and all eyes were in the young man to see if he could talk.
The Golden State Warriors won 104-93, while Cuminga played in just 17 minutes. Still, Festus Ezeli loved what he had done in that short time and believed he was the spark that set the tone.
Without Jimmy Butler, Kerr used a small lineup focused on releasing Steph Curry from the rocket’s stifling electric shock.
As a result, Kuminga started with Small Forward, Draymond Green was Power Forward and Quinten Post became center.
Greene split off the Rockets’ offensive possessions by being a defense safety valve and always present nuisance of the kind that doesn’t appear in box scores.
The post fought hard for the rebound, finishing at 12 and doing what he was asked of perfection.
Kuminga was an important part of this defensive setup, as he used his energy to keep Jalen Green from being a heatwave scorer.
Ezeli said: “Everyone had to step up. I loved what the players did, and it all started with Jonathan Cuminga beginning towards the head of Jalen Green, the snake head in the Houston Rocket. He did an incredible job with him all night.
“And then, if you go from there, you get Buddy Heald on the 3-point line, 11-11, and I thought tonight that the player in the game would be Gary Payton II if it wasn’t for Steph Curry.
“But tonight, Steph Curry, he put on a Superman cape and they took a lot of babyface assassins all night.
Kuminga is hurt to see him playing only 17 minutes, and on Butler’s return he could once again face a fight for relevance, but the template is set.
While Kerr wants to see the system’s greatest defensive effort and discipline for the benefit of the team, Kuminga tends to go to hero ball.
What he gave to his team in 17 minutes didn’t lead to the flashiest box score statistics, but still lived to the demand the Warriors have.
This is something that had to go through as things like Moses Moody and Brandin Posiemsky are the stubborn team discipline when it comes to playing inexperienced players.
Kuminga needs to use this cameo as a template to buy more time as his future is turning away from the warriors as he is currently.