The Golden State Warriors held on for a 110-105 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday at Chase Center, wresting sole grasp of the league's top home record from the Memphis Grizzlies. Here are three reactions from another significant win by the short-handed Dubs.
Jonathan Kuminga doesn't need numbers
Dominant as the Warriors are when Kuminga stuffs the stat sheet, he doesn't need to put up big numbers to make a positive impact on both sides of the ball. The pressure he puts on the rim, ability to switch across four—sometimes five—positions and all-around athletic verve he provides on both sides would be hugely beneficial for any team, but especially Golden State. It's not like the Warriors need another go-to scorer or playmaker offensively.
Kuminga's versatility and rare physical attributes are a near-perfect fit for what Golden State wants out of its fourth wing.
That reality was on full display during a two-way segment in the second quarter of Tuesday's game in which Kuminga—wrongly, by the way; he deserved the steal here—didn't record a single statistic.
https://streamable.com/tb39sb
There was a time when Kuminga might have launched a quick triple upon catching from Kevon Looney. There were others, including just early last month, when he would've lacked the confidence to try and muster an advantage himself.
Only so many players Kuminga's size have the handle and dexterity to spin past Terry Rozier. Fewer have the explosiveness to rise up and hang long enough to both draw a defender and kickout to the corner.
The 20-year-old sprints back on the Ty Jerome miss he created, covering for Looney as the Warriors' big man stops the ball at the rim. He identifies and closes out to his man under control, then has the quickness to cut Jalen McDaniels off, simultaneously ripping his dribble en route to a layup for Moses Moody.
Kuminga clearly isn't ready to be a consistent shooting threat this season. While not ideal, that key area of improvement won't prevent him from carving out a big role for Golden State when it matters most if he keeps making the winning plays he has recently—in few games more palpably than this one.
Kuminga, by the way, put up 14 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals on perfect 6-of-6 shooting against the Hornets, spearheading the Warriors' crunch-time success with and without scoring.
Just look at his my-ball steal and towering defensive rebound on this crucial late-game sequence.
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Jordan Poole found a cutting Kuminga for a layup immediately thereafter, and the pair connected again for a game-sealing dunk with just over 20 seconds left. This was probably Kuminga's best game as a pro, and a ringing endorsement of his ongoing development into an impact rotation player.
A Warriors win without threes
Golden State picked up where they left off from Christmas in the first quarter, draining 6-of-11 from beyond the arc en route to an early double-digit lead. But the home team cooled off to historically low temperatures from there, clanking a wild 24 of its 26 next three-point attempts. The Warriors finished the game 8-of-37 on triples, good for 21.6% shooting, their worst mark of the season.
Making Golden State's victory all the more impressive considering those long-range labors? Kerr's team had yet to win a game this season without making at least 12 threes, entering Tuesday's action 0-7.
The Warriors broke that ominous trend by shooting 56.8% on twos, scoring 56 points in the paint and going 20-of-24 at the free throw line. It certainly helped that Charlotte wasn't hot, either, shooting 10-of-38 on threes while missing several open looks down the stretch, some of which came from LaMelo Ball.
Hard as it is for Dub Nation to fathom, there could be nights going forward when shots don't fall at a similarly alarming rate—even once Stephen Curry returns. The Hornets aren't a good team, let alone a contender, but it must heartening nevertheless for the Warriors to secure a win in a game the long ball truly failed them.
Klay Thompson was dynamic
Thompson was the only one of his teammates to ever have the touch from deep against Charlotte. He went 5-of-12 on threes, a majority of which came in the first quarter alone. Thompson rained three triples over the game's first four-and-a-half minutes, sprinting into another off a slick leave from Donte DiVincenzo in transition a bit later.
But his production didn't stop just because Thompson eventually lost the hot hand. He finished with a game-high 29 points on 10-of-22 shooting, also chipping in five rebounds and four assists. Even more than those gaudy numbers, though, what really stood out about Thompson's night was the obvious activity and energy in his movements from the opening tip.
This is one of Klay's best finishes in a Warriors uniform, showing off some pop and ability to take contact around the rim that hasn't always been there in 2022-23.
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Thompson actually got some real air time on this pivotal help block of Terry Rozier in the clutch.
Klay Thompson with a clutch block on Rozier pic.twitter.com/a2LJimQ6SU
— hoops bot (@hoops_bot) December 28, 2022
Vintage Klay, it's obvious by now, will only return in spurts these days. We saw him during stretches of Tuesday's game, another positive indicator of the Warriors' ability to compete at the top of the league once they're finally back at full-strength.
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