The Golden State Warriors have been conservative with Jonathan Kuminga’s playoff minutes. On Sunday, the 19-year-old had an opportunity to play an important role in the Dubs’ attempt to sweep Denver.
Only playing a few minutes in garbage time of the prior three games, Kuminga had a chance to shine early in the first half of Game 4. After the Warriors took an early gut punch in the first quarter, Steve Kerr elected to pull the strings by giving Kuminga his first burst of meaningful playoff minutes.
Jonathan Kuminga received his first chance at making an impact in an NBA Playoff game. How did the rookie hold up?
Kuminga began the second quarter with Nikola Jokic on the bench. This offered him a chance to punish the Nuggets’ bench and get into a rhythm without the pressure of having to check the reigning MVP.
Things did not start as planned, however. A dead possession led to Kuminga attempting a 3-pointer late in the shot clock for his first attempt of the game. Soon after, he clanked both free throws in a trip to the line. Not exactly the type of start anyone was hoping for.
From there, things got much better for Kuminga. He exploded to the rim for a dunk after a Nuggets’ made basket and dunked once again just a minute later. Kuminga then made good on a pair of free throws before converting an and-one layup to cut the lead to single digits.
His unofficial debut wasn’t perfect. Kuminga got beat defensively a few times by masterfully designed attacks from the Nuggets that pinpointed his inexperience. For example, Jokic returned to the game and was put into position for an easy post-hook over the rookie.
Kuminga finished with 9 points in 11 minutes of playing time, an overall minus-3 when he was on the floor. Still, there was more than enough reason to feel excited about the future.