What should have been just another late-March regular season game between the No. 10 seed in the Western Conference and the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference was so much more. At least the outside noise made it seem like that.
Jonathan Kuminga, the Warriors’ No. 7 overall pick from the 2021 NBA Draft, played his former team Saturday night at State Farm Arena for the first time after four-and-a-half seasons full of highs, lows and dramatic tension that rarely had the two sides aligned.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr had nothing but positive remarks regarding Kuminga during his pregame press conference, and the same goes for his new head coach, Quin Snyder. Following his pregame warmups, Kuminga signed autographs, took pictures and immediately ran back to the visiting press conference room to say hi to the Warriors’ camera crew and media production team.
Kuminga had a rough night against his old team, scoring a lowly two points on 1-of-9 shooting as a minus-6 in 22 minutes off the bench. Below is a quarter-by-quarter breakdown of how Kuminga played against the Warriors in a 126-110 Hawks win.
First Quarter
With the Hawks ahead 22-19, Kuminga came off the bench for the Hawks at the 5:25 mark of the first quarter. He first guarded Nate Williams, who quickly made a 3-pointer on him. Kuminga passed up a three on the other side with Williams guarding him, and then he attempted an aggressive steal defensively while guarding Gui Santos but was called for a foul.
Kuminga’s first shot attempt was a missed fadeaway from 13 feet out with Williams guarding him. He took two shots in the first quarter from the mid-range and missed both times. The best play Kuminga made in the first quarter was jumping the lane and stealing a Brandin Podziemski pass that led to a Zaccharie Risacher 3-pointer.
The Warriors led 36-35 after the first quarter. Kuminga played five-and-a-half minutes in the first quarter and was a minus-3. He was scoreless and had two rebounds, one assist, one steal, one turnover and was called for one foul.
Second Quarter
Kuminga started the second quarter and still struggled finding his offense. First, he failed to make a turnaround jump shot off the glass on Draymond Green. Then, he drove to the basket but couldn’t convert over two Warriors at the rim.
The first half was full of frustrations for Kuminga. He was on the floor for nearly the first seven minutes of the second quarter and again couldn’t buy a bucket. Kuminga was called for a travel, grabbed one rebound and was a minus-7 in the second quarter. The shot selection wasn’t great, and Kuminga wasn’t moving much off the ball — two aspects that hampered him in Golden State.
Those numbers brought him to a minus-10 in 12 minutes with no points on 0-of-4 shooting, three rebounds, one assist, one steal, two turnovers and one foul as his Hawks led 63-61 at halftime.
Third Quarter
The Hawks opened the second half on fire and outscored the Warriors 29-11 before Kuminga got off the bench. When he entered with four-and-a-half minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Warriors trailed 92-72. He guarded Santos when he came in but quickly was called for a foul.
Once again, Kuminga still couldn’t find his shot. Kuminga took two threes and came up empty each time. He was a plus-1 in the third quarter, but was one of two Hawks yet to score entering the fourth quarter.
To keep his knee healthy as possible, the Hawks as of late have held Kuminga to a 20-minute limit, and he already was up to 16 minutes and 35 seconds through three quarters.
Fourth Quarter
Just like he did in the second quarter, Kuminga started the fourth. His first shot attempt was as ugly as it gets while clearly trying to get a foul call. Kuminga blew right past Omer Yurtseven, but then tried to absorb contact and instead shot the ball off the side of the backboard.
Finally, Kuminga’s drought ended on a transition bucket with the smaller Pat Spencer guarding him to make it a 109-85 lead for the Hawks. Later in the quarter, Kuminga airballed a three from the right corner.
That shot was his final of the night. Kuminga went to the bench for good with a little more than six minutes left. The Hawks at that time had a 24-point lead, 118-94.
Kuminga got the last laugh, even in a game where he struggled mightily.
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