The hours are counting down until Jonathan Kuminga's revenge game against the Golden State Warriors, and now the Atlanta Hawks have made a decision on the young forward solely with his former team in mind.
The Hawks have chosen to keep Kuminga out from Friday's first night of a back-to-back against the Houston Rockets, allowing the 23-year-old to be fully prepared and ready to face the Warriors on Saturday.
Hawks rest Jonathan Kuminga to prime him for Warriors matchup
From purely a team standpoint, you could argue that Atlanta's decision is a questionable, or quite simply the wrong one. Even with the Rockets facing some form issues themselves in recent weeks, there's no doubt they're a more formidable opponent than Golden State right now without Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler.
Therefore, it would have surely made more sense from a win perspective to have Kuminga available against the better team, especially when they'd still remain favorites to beat the Warriors even without him.
The reality is that the Hawks were never going to prevent Kuminga from the opportunity of facing his former team, even if it meant having to rest him against a better team as he continues to manage the knee injury he suffered in his final game with Golden State.
Kuminga should be primed for a big performance against the Warriors, not just because he's resting the night before against the Rockets, but because his former team is clearly going to be undermanned and subsequently below their best.
Kuminga won't be facing Stephen Curry or noted mentor Jimmy Butler, while Golden State will also be without the likes of Al Horford and Seth Curry. Given Kristaps Porzingis and De'Anthony Melton are playing the night before in Detroit, we can only assume they'll also be missing in Atlanta.
Jonathan Kuminga finds some form in time for Warriors
Just like Porzingis' time with Golden State following last month's bombshell trade, Kuminga's knee injury has made for an up-and-down start to Atlanta life in terms of his availability on the court.
Kuminga made an explosive start with 27, 17 and 20-point games in his first three outings with the Hawks, albeit they came against the Washington Wizards (twice) and Portland Trail Blazers. The former seventh overall pick then missed three-straight games, before just nine combined points against the Brooklyn Nets and Orlando Magic.
Kuminga did find some form in Wednesday's 135-120 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, dropping 16 points (including an incredible near full-court shot), along with five rebounds and three assists in just over 18 minutes off the bench.