{"id":71801,"date":"2024-04-03T18:19:54","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T22:19:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=71801"},"modified":"2024-04-03T18:19:54","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T22:19:54","slug":"warriors-pillar-jonathan-kuminga-nearing-return-injury-perfect-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/04\/03\/warriors-pillar-jonathan-kuminga-nearing-return-injury-perfect-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Warriors Pillar Returning from Injury at Perfect Time"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Golden State Warriors forward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kuminjo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jonathan Kuminga<\/a> has missed the team\u2019s last four games with knee tendinitis.<\/p>\n<h2>Jonathan Kuminga Returning from Injury at Perfect Time<\/h2>\n<p>Averaging 16.3 points per game on 52.9 percent shooting from the field, Kuminga has become a key member of the Warriors rotation. However, the Warriors didn\u2019t have much trouble racking up wins without him. Golden State went 4-0 during that stretch, taking down two playoff teams: the Orlando Magic and Dallas Mavericks.<\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, their next contest is a must-win game. No matter how well they\u2019ve played as of late, the Warriors would rather be at full strength when they face the Houston Rockets on Thursday. As a result, Kuminga will be active for the upcoming matchup.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Jonathan Kuminga won\u2019t play today, Kerr says. But he will be active in Houston on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>Kuminga hasn\u2019t done any work for the last week as he\u2019s dealt with knee tendinitis. He\u2019s feeling better, Kerr says, but the trainers wanted him to ramp up more before playing.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Kendra Andrews (@kendra__andrews) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kendra__andrews\/status\/1775316768883617841?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 3, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday, the Warriors updated Kuminga\u2019s injury status, upgrading him to questionable against the Rockets. Although it\u2019s far from a certainty, the 21-year-old appears to be trending towards his scheduled return. With that, the Warriors will drastically improve their chances of defeating Houston and securing a playoff berth.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Jonathan Kuminga officially listed as questionable for the Warriors tomorrow in Houston, though Steve Kerr indicated the plan is for Kuminga to return. Gary Payton II probable with left ankle soreness. Everyone else available.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/anthonyVslater\/status\/1775623437358190834?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 3, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Rockets have gone with <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/03\/21\/secret-ingredient-rockets-recent-success\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">a more uptempo style<\/a>\u00a0since star center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/sengual01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alperen Sengun<\/a> went down <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/03\/25\/injured-nba-budding-star-could-shockingly-return-this-season-houston-rockets-alperen-sengun\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">with a leg injury<\/a>. In leaning into the youth and athleticism of their roster, they\u2019ve managed to go 9-2 without Sengun. As a result, they\u2019re <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/standings\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">now 3.0 games behind<\/a> the Warriors with seven games remaining in the regular season.<\/p>\n<p>For Golden State, that\u2019s too close for comfort.<\/p>\n<p>The timing of Kuminga\u2019s return isn\u2019t just about having <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/03\/29\/warriors-coach-steve-kerr-fires-back-at-stephen-curry-critics\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">another volume scorer available<\/a>. The Warriors, who play small-ball themselves, may be able to match Houston\u2019s pace and space offensively. However, Golden State\u2019s aging roster could lose the war of attrition at the defensive end.<\/p>\n<p>Four members of the Warriors rotation \u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/paulch01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chris Paul<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/curryst01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stephen Curry<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/thompkl01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Klay Thompson<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/greendr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Draymond Green<\/a> \u2014are at least 34 years old. As a result, this game could be one in which their young players \u2014like Kuminga \u2014will be even more valuable.<\/p>\n<h3>Down to the Wire<\/h3>\n<p>If they don\u2019t secure a victory against the Rockets, the end of the season will have a dramatic finish.<\/p>\n<p>Houston has the more difficult schedule to close out the season and will face four playoff teams after they take on the Warriors. Nonetheless, Golden State will take on two playoff teams themselves and a playoff hopeful in the Los Angeles Lakers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga has missed the team\u2019s last four games with knee tendinitis. Jonathan Kuminga Returning from Injury at Perfect Time Averaging 16.3 points per game on 52.9 percent shooting from the field, Kuminga has become a key member of the Warriors rotation. However, the Warriors didn\u2019t have much trouble racking up [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":71807,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25,1608,31,62],"tags":[4297,4745,596],"class_list":["post-71801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-warriors","category-basketball","category-rockets","category-nba","tag-jonathan-kuminga","tag-nba-injuries","tag-nba-playoffs"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}