Despite a late injury scare in Friday’s 111-95 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, talented forward Jonathan Kuminga is set to be available for the Golden State Warriors for Sunday’s matchup with the San Antonio Spurs.
With much discussion around his form and fit within the Warriors since his return from a long 31-game absence, Kuminga had a bounce-back game of sorts against the Pelicans in 23 minutes off the bench.
The 22-year-old had 16 points, eight rebounds and three assists in the 16-point win, but caused some concern late in the game when he banged knees with Pelicans center Yves Missi in the final minutes.
Jonathan Kuminga will be available for the Warriors on Sunday
Fortunately the news on Kuminga appears to be positive, with the former seventh overall pick not listed on the injury report to face the Spurs at Frost Bank Center.
Stephen Curry made his return against the Pelicans following a two-game absence, scoring a game-high 23 points to go with four rebounds, six assists and three steals in 34 minutes. Still dealing with the pelvic contusion he suffered last week, Curry has been listed as probable for Sunday’s game.
Golden State will still be without Gary Payton II who suffered a torn ligament in his thumb against the Miami Heat on Tuesday. Yet outside he and Curry, the Warriors have a clear injury report for what will be another crucial game so late in the season.
The Spurs will enter on the second night of a back-to-back, having suffered a 121-111 loss to the reigning champion Boston Celtics on Saturday. San Antonio fell behind 36-27 after the opening period and never recovered, with Jayson Tatum narrowly missing out on a triple-double as the Celtics superstar finished with 29 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.
Having once been a sneaky contender to push for the Play-In Tournament, the Spurs season was thrown into chaos when French phenom Victor Wembanyama was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis coming out of the All-Star break. Having already ruled out Wembanyama for the season, San Antonio also sent star mid-season trade acquisition De’Aaron Fox for season-ending surgery earlier in the month.
As a result, the Spurs are 8-13 since the All-Star break and now out of Play-In contention. They still rank 11th in offensive rating during this period, suggesting they could cause some concerns if the Warriors don’t come with the requisite defensive intensity which has plagued them against lesser opposition at times in recent weeks.
Golden State remain seventh in the Western Conference, but could regain sixth spot if they win and the L.A Clippers lose on the road against the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers.
