Curry applauds Kuminga’s playoff grit
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — At the start of the playoffs, Jonathan Kuminga had to remind himself to be patient and know that his number will eventually be called.
And when that time did come, he was confident he would be ready.
Entering Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Grizzlies Tuesday night, Kuminga had played in five of the Warriors’ six postseason games. He had his best overall effort in Game 1 on Sunday, scoring six points and grabbing six rebounds in 15 minutes.
“It’s been great,” Kuminga said Tuesday after shootaround. “It’s a lot of learning, it’s a lot going on at the same time… I’ve never played playoffs but I feel like I’m ready. Anytime they put me out there, every day I play, I feel like I’m ready and I’m producing something to help the team.”
Kuminga’s maturity and composure on the big stage has impressed coach Steve Kerr and his teammates. In fact, Stephen Curry said he couldn’t imagine what it’s like to be not only playing in the NBA playoffs at the ripe age of 19 but also making an impact as Kuminga has.
“It’s the irrational confidence maybe you have in yourself that you’re ready for anything even at that age,” Curry said. “That’s the key to him just getting even to this point and I hope that never changes because he’s shown that he can come in and provide amazing impact, still has a crazy ton of room to grow so it’s pretty impressive.”
The biggest takeaway for Kuminga through six playoff games is the importance of focusing on the details and not to overthink the game.
“Just go out there, execute everything, be sharp with everything you’re doing,” Kuminga said.
Kerr has been pleased with the rookie, who’s averaging four points in five playoff games while shooting 63.6% from the field.
“It’s great experience for him, every bit of this,” Kerr said. He’s experiencing “the amount of work and preparation, the importance of every possession, the importance of every detail, and for him to be out there and feel the mistakes, feel the success, feel the corrections the next day, just go through the whole exercise, he’s going to be so far along by the time next season starts, next year’s playoffs come, this will be old had for him, but you have to really go through it to understand.” Iguodala update
Andre Iguodala is expected to be reevaluated Wednesday after a neck injury has sidelined him for the last week.
Iguodala, who’s been out with a left cervical disc injury, missed the Warriors’ seriesending Game 5 win against the Denver Nuggets as well as the first two games of the series against the Grizzlies.
The Warriors previously said Iguodala’s injury is linked to the neck spasms that disabled Iguodala for Game 2 of the first-round series.
Iguodala, 38, missed 19 games in the second half of the season with a lower back injury before returning for the final two weeks of the season. In three postseason games, he’s averaging 1.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists, playing roughly 14 minutes off the bench.