After being up 3-1, the Golden State Warriors are now tied with the Houston Rockets at 3-3 following two losses in which the Rockets controlled the momentum from start to finish. With the Warriors scrambling, the question will be whether Jonathan Kuminga can play.
Playing Kuminga would feel like a Hail Mary because he hasn’t played through most of the series. However, Golden State is running out of options and might just turn to him. First things first, though, let’s look at where the wing is health-wise.
The Latest on Jonathan Kuminga’s Health
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr admitted that Kuminga had a migraine before Game 6, but Kuminga would be fully active and ready. Kuminga did not play in Game 6, and since then, there have been no indications that Kuminga is dealing with any injuries or health issues.
After the Warriors lost Game 6 to the Rockets, Steve Kerr told reporters that Kuminga’s return to the rotation is “100% on the table” in Game 7, per The Athletic’s Anthony Slater.
Steve Kerr said Jonathan Kuminga’s return to the rotation is “100 percent on the table” in Game 7 pic.twitter.com/MBmTzCE91b
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater)
At this point, Golden State may try just about anything to topple the Rockets in this series. Kuminga definitely has his shortcomings as a player, but he’s youthful, athletic, and can slash to the basket. Notably, Jimmy Butler also fits that profile (minus the youth aspect), which is why Kuminga’s role has faltered in Golden State since Butler’s arrival.
Butler simply does everything Kuminga does, only better. Kuminga’s presence on the court at the same time as Butler can be redundant, which has proven to be a problem on the basketball court.
Still, even if there’s overlap, the Rockets have found lineups that exploit their weaknesses, and any time the Warriors have tried to adjust, the Rockets have had a counter for it. In a series where Golden State should have had a massive edge in terms of experience, Houston has made that a non-factor.
The way things are going, the Rockets might go down as the most shocking first-round series win for a No. 2 seed in NBA history, but times like these also prove why they finished that high while the Warriors finished that low when the regular season ended.
Golden State showed early on that they have been there before, so they hold an edge. On the other hand, the Rockets showed why their roster is so hard to beat. That leaves the Warriors with not much to deploy on their end other than their 22-year-old wing.
Kuminga is not likely to be some sort of secret weapon, it is more of a case of Golden State simply being out of options.
