Warriors Notes: Kuminga, Butler, Curry, Green
Jonathan Kuminga has been a forgotten man in the Warriors‘ rotation for the last few months, but he was at his best in Saturday’s Game 3 loss to Minnesota, writes Ron Kroichick of The San Francisco Chronicle (subscription required). Kuminga was given 36 minutes off the bench — the first time he’s topped 30 minutes since December — and delivered 30 points to help keep the game close. At plus-five, he was the only Golden State player who finished the game with a positive plus-minus rating.
“JK played one of the best games of his life,” coach Steve Kerr said. “He was fantastic. You can see how necessary he is in this matchup, especially without (Stephen Curry). … I’ve just been impressed with the way he’s handled things the last couple of weeks, the way he’s stayed ready and put in the work.”
As Kroichick points out, it’s been a difficult season for Kuminga since the calendar flipped to 2025. He suffered a severe right ankle sprain on January 4 that sidelined him for about two months. The Warriors traded for Jimmy Butler in early February, so Kuminga’s role was greatly diminished once he returned. Kerr kept him on the bench for a season finale that was crucial for seeding and for a play-in victory against Memphis. He saw limited action in the first-round series against Houston, and his confidence was clearly affected by his time out of the lineup.
There were no signs of that on Saturday, as he looked like the aggressive young star in the making from early in the season. He shot 11-of-18 from the field, hit three of his four three-point attempts and threw down a dunk over Anthony Edwards. He also grabbed six rebounds, handed out three assists and hounded Edwards on defense.
“I feel like the better the player (he’s guarding), the better defense he plays,” said veteran big man Kevon Looney, who Kroichick says has been teaming with Draymond Green to serve as mentors for Kuminga.
Kuminga’s inspired performance will give the Warriors plenty to consider as he enters restricted free agency this summer. Despite his reduced role and questions about his fit alongside Butler and Green, he’s only 22 on a team that needs to develop young talent. Teammates and coaches have said he’s handled the demotion well, according to Kroichick, and he’s continued to compete hard in scrimmages involving the team’s reserves.
There’s more on the Warriors:
- With Curry sidelined by a Grade 1 left hamstring strain, Golden State is leaning more heavily on Butler than at any time since the trade, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic. He played 43 minutes on Saturday, even though he aggravated a glute injury he suffered in the opening round, posting 33 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Butler also made the case that he and Kuminga can be a successful combination. “Like I tell everybody, me and him can thrive together,” Butler said. “I know how to space the floor. I can tell him, ‘Hey, when I have the ball, you go here and you do this.’ We talk. We listen to one another. I know that he’s going to be a huge part of us winning on Monday.”
- Curry went through a strenuous pregame workout that included medium-speed shooting and a stationary bike, Slater adds. A source tells Slater that Curry never attempted to reach full speed or cut, which are steps he’ll have to achieve before being cleared to play. A report Saturday night indicated that Curry’s best chance to return will be next Sunday’s Game 6 if the Warriors can extend the series that long.
- Timberwolves president Tim Connelly reached out to Green after a Game 2 incident in Minnesota that resulted in the ejection of a fan, tweets Marc J. Spears of Andscape.
Celtics Notes: Game 3 Win, Tatum, Porzingis, Pritchard, Mazzulla
“You’ve got to tap into your darkness,” coach Joe Mazzulla said as the Celtics approached Saturday facing a 2-0 series deficit, and his team responded with probably its best game of the playoffs, writes Jared Weiss of The Athletic. Boston struck quickly, built a commanding early lead, and controlled the game throughout on its way to a 115-93 victory.
“If you plan on doing this for a long time, trust me, it’ll be a lot worse than the last 72 hours, and that’s the perspective you have to have,” Mazzulla said. “This is the fun part. I didn’t get into the journey for it to be easy. It’s been dark, but in a good way.”
The Celtics set a playoff record by missing 45 three-point attempts in the series opener and were shooting 25% as a team from beyond the arc in the first two games. That changed dramatically in Game 3 as they overwhelmed the Knicks from the outside, connecting on 20-of-40 three-point shots.
Jayson Tatum, who had been badly misfiring in the first two games, made five of his nine three-point attempts on Saturday and talked about the need to be a leader when times are tough.
“You just understand what comes with being that guy,” he said. “I get a lot of praise, I get a lot of credit, I get a lot of accolades, but I’m not perfect. And there’s times where I’ve needed to play better, I’ve needed to do more, and that’s what comes with being that guy.”
There’s more on the Celtics:
- Kristaps Porzingis played 19 minutes off the bench, but he’s still experiencing side effects from a virus he contracted in late February, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter video link). Charania states that Porzingis has been dealing with “energy zaps” and stamina “ebbs and flows” over the past two months. He began feeling better before the team’s first-round series, but went through a “crash” before Game 1 against New York.
- Payton Pritchard was 5-of-10 from three-point range on Saturday while logging 35 minutes, the most playing time he’s seen in this year’s postseason, per Khari Thompson of The Boston Globe. Mazzulla explained that he gave Pritchard an expanded role because Jrue Holiday picked up early fouls. “Our sub patterns are always flexible,” Mazzulla said. “Tonight, Jrue had three fouls and Payton was good. At times, you go with what makes the most sense. Just the flexibility of what we were able to do, but he played really well on both ends of the floor for us. There was some foul trouble there, so we were able to go to some different stuff.”
- Mazzulla’s job is likely safe regardless of the outcome of this series, Brian Robb of MassLive states in a mailbag column. However, he warns that the Celtics will likely have to sacrifice some depth this summer due to financial concerns, so it will be harder for Mazzulla to keep the team at an elite level in the future.
Karl-Anthony Towns Suffers Hand Injury In Game 3 Loss
Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns appeared to say “I broke it” (Twitter video link) after getting hit on his left hand in Saturday’s game, writes Bridget Reilly of The New York Post.
Towns declined to elaborate on the injury when talking to reporters after the game. Reilly notes that he was able to remain on the court, although he shot just 5-of-18 in a 22-point loss to Boston.
“It is what it is. I just want to do whatever I can to be out there,” Towns responded when asked if he has a broken finger. “It is what it is. I’m gonna keep finding ways to play, so I ain’t tripping.”
Reilly adds that the reaction captured on the ABC broadcast came after Towns battled Luke Kornet for a rebound late in the second quarter. He was also seen wincing in the third quarter following a foul by Jrue Holiday. Towns posted 21 points and 15 rebounds, but he went just 1-of-5 from three-point range and is shooting 14.3% from beyond the arc in the series.
Towns refused to reveal whether he underwent an X-ray or any other tests after the game, saying he would “let [the Knicks] tell you that.”
Coach Tom Thibodeau was also guarded about releasing information on Towns’ condition, according to Brian Robb of MassLive.
“It’s the playoffs,” Thibodeau said. “People are going to get hit and you have to play through things. That’s why you do it the entire season. No one is 100 percent. You have to understand that you can play well when you’re feeling less than your best, that’s all part of it. I think the mental toughness part of this in the playoffs is huge.”
Warriors Hope Stephen Curry Can Return For Game 6
The Warriors are hoping to extend their series with Minnesota to at least six games to give Stephen Curry the best chance to return, Shams Charania of ESPN said on tonight’s NBA Countdown (Twitter video link).
Curry, who suffered a Grade 1 left hamstring strain in the series opener, is scheduled to be reevaluated on Wednesday. He was projected to miss at least a week when the injury occurred May 6.
Sources tell Charania that the Warriors view Game 6 as “the earliest potential window” for Curry to resume playing. Games 3 and 4 are tonight and Monday in San Francisco before the series returns to Minnesota for Game 5 on Wednesday. A scheduling quirk gives the teams a three-day break prior to Game 6 next Sunday back in the Bay Area.
Charania reports that Curry is receiving “a ton of treatment” on his hamstring as he tries to work his way back into playing shape. He adds that there’s still plenty of work left to do to get Curry through the progression of “movement, contact, running, sprinting.”
Charania also points out that this is the first muscle strain that the 37-year-old Curry has experienced in his NBA career, which adds to the caution surrounding his rehab work.
Curry was limited to 13 minutes in Game 1, but he scored 13 points and was 3-of-6 on three-pointers as Golden State picked up a 99-88 road victory. The offense struggled without him in Game 2, producing just 15 points in the first quarter on the way to a 117-93 defeat.
Coach Steve Kerr leaned heavily on Curry in the final two games of the first-round series against Houston, playing him 42 minutes in Game 6 and 46 minutes in Game 7, which was two days before the Minnesota series began. Curry discussed the difficulty of trying to create open shots against the Rockets, calling them “one of the toughest defenses I think I’ve ever faced” (Twitter video link from 95.7 The Game).
Wolves Notes: Edwards, Conley, Alexander-Walker, Randle
Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards appears to have fully overcome the injury scare he suffered in Game 2, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link). Edwards had to leave the game in the second quarter after reinjuring his left ankle, but he was able to return after halftime.
Meeting with reporters before tonight’s contest, Minnesota coach Chris Finch said Edwards will be “hopefully as close to full go as you can be,” McMenamin relays. Finch added that Edwards participated in Friday’s workout and didn’t show any “ill effects” from the injury.
There were fears that Edwards could be lost for the series or possibly longer when Golden State big man Trayce Jackson-Davis accidentally landed on his leg on a play under the basket, per Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports. Two team staff members helped Edwards up, but he wasn’t able to put any weight on the ankle as they assisted him to the locker room.
“This one I was really worried about, actually,” Finch admitted after the game. “There’s lots of ways being an elite athlete pay off, being able to shake those things off is one of them.”
There’s more on the Timberwolves:
- Oklahoma City, Cleveland and Boston posted the league’s best records during the regular season, but they’re all trailing in the second round, which has the Wolves believing the race for the NBA title is wide open, Goodwill adds in the same piece. “The message I’ve gathered from watching the league over the last week: This thing is anybody’s for that taking, you know,” Mike Conley said. “Why not us? Why not? Why can’t we do it? My urgency is at an all-time high. These guys are urgent. Just make them understand you don’t get this chance too often. I’m on my last couple of runs. I want them to feel that.”
- Nickeil Alexander-Walker was able to break out of his shooting slump in Game 2 by focusing on things other than scoring, writes Alec Lewis of The Athletic. Alexander-Walker prioritized rebounding, defense and playing with pace — all of which helped him earn a rotation role in Minnesota — and would up setting a personal career playoff high with 20 points.
- Julius Randle was the Wolves’ best player in Game 2 with 24 points, seven rebounds and 11 assists, but he was benched for a while in the third quarter for an emotional outburst that led to a defensive lapse, per La Velle E. Neal III of The Star-Tribune. Randle was upset that an official ruled that the ball went out of bounds off him, resulting in a turnover, and Jonathan Kuminga threw down a breakaway dunk while he was reacting. “You know me, being a competitor,” Randle said. “I wanted to stay out there, you know? Kind of ride the ship. But, you know, it didn’t necessarily go like that. I was a little hot.”
Pacers Notes: Haliburton, Carlisle, Technicals, Turner
Tyrese Haliburton, who didn’t speak with reporters after the Pacers‘ Game 3 loss to Cleveland on Friday, explained that it was a team decision to not make him available, writes Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. Haliburton suffered through a subpar night, finishing with four points and five assists while shooting 2-of-8 from the field. Meeting with the media after Saturday’s film session, Haliburton stated that he’s always willing to be accountable no matter how he plays.
“I don’t run away from any questions. I went through harder times than last night,” he said. “Whatever you have to ask, I’ll be there. If there’s commentary around me not talking last night, people are more than allowed to approach me and have a conversation with me about it. I can’t control everything, but I don’t run from anything. If you have questions to ask, I’m right here.”
Dopirak notes that the Cavaliers made a concerted effort to control Haliburton after dropping the first two games of the series. Max Strus drew the main defensive assignment, but everyone who defended Haliburton face-guarded him and didn’t give him much room to operate. Cleveland also unveiled a 3-2 zone with Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley at the top to contest shooters. Haliburton had four of his shots blocked on Friday, with Mobley getting two of them.
“It’s an interesting dynamic, right?” Haliburton said. “A lot of teams don’t play a 3-2 and they don’t play with a seven-footer at the top. We just have to figure out how to go at it. We walked over some stuff and we saw some stuff through the course of the game that we feel comfortable with.”
There’s more from Indiana:
- The Cavs made an early statement on Friday by scoring the first 11 points of the game and then finishing the first half on a 25-4 run, per Shakeia Taylor of The Athletic. Coach Rick Carlisle said his team has to do a better job of being ready to compete from the opening tip. “This is a very poor effort at the beginning of the game, through too many parts of the game. We all own it pretty clearly,” Carlisle said. “I didn’t have these guys ready for this, so I take responsibility for that. Ty had a rough game. I got to do more to get him involved, get him shots, get him in better positions to defend better, all those kinds of things.”
- The Pacers were whistled for five technical fouls in the loss, but Carlisle refused to blame the referees for anything that happened, Taylor adds. “This wasn’t on the officials,” he said. “This is us not playing with enough presence, posture, disposition, whatever you want to call it. We’ve got to fix it. We’ve got 48 hours to do it. Playoff series are long, lots of ups and downs, lots of new storylines every game. From the standpoint of this game, the storyline is, we got to fight harder. We didn’t fight hard enough. They did. They outfought us.”
- Myles Turner made a brief trip to the locker room after tweaking his ankle in the third quarter, but he was able to resume playing and expects to be ready for Sunday’s Game 4, Dopirak states in a separate story. “I’m fine,” Turner said. “Stuff happens. It’s the playoffs. It was a little tweak. You tape it up and you’re good to go.”
Nuggets Notes: Gordon, Jokic, Porter, Defense
Playoff heroics are becoming routine for Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon, writes Sean Keeler of The Denver Post. After hitting a three-pointer in the final seconds to beat Oklahoma City in Game 1 of their playoff series, Gordon delivered another late three Friday night that sent Game 3 into overtime. Denver eventually pulled away to claim a 113-104 win and a 2-1 series lead over the top-seeded Thunder.
“What (Gordon has) done this postseason has been unbelievable for us,” Peyton Watson said. “He’s won us games, and we need everything that we can get, so I’m just super happy for AG overall, what he’s been through, and the person that he is, and the teammate that he is. It couldn’t have happened to a better guy.”
Keeler points out that the acquisition of Gordon from Orlando at the 2021 trade deadline has turned out to be one of the best deals in franchise history. Since he arrived, Gordon has shown a willingness to do whatever the team needs, Keeler adds, whether it’s rebounding, defense or outside shooting. At 43.6%, this was Gordon’s best three-point shooting season by far, and he credits the improvement to hours of practice at his home gym.
“Yeah, it takes a lot of work. But the reward is itself,” he said. “I don’t really care about other people praising (it) or not. It doesn’t matter to me.”
There’s more from Denver:
- The Nuggets won despite a rare off night from Nikola Jokic, who shot 6-of-23 from the field and missed all 10 of his three-point attempts, notes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. Jokic called himself “the worst player on the court today” and said he needs to find a way to counteract OKC’s defense. “I mean, I don’t know what they are doing,” he told reporters. “Because if I knew, probably I’m not gonna have those kinds of mistakes. So I need to figure out what they’re doing.”
- Michael Porter Jr., who made three combined shots in the two games at Oklahoma City, looked more comfortable in Game 3, per Troy Renck of The Denver Post. Porter is playing with a Grade 2 shoulder sprain that would normally take a month to recover from. He has been taking lidocaine injections to help relieve the pain, and Friday he contributed 21 points and eight rebounds while making 5-of-6 shots from beyond the arc. “A couple of days in between is helping at this point. I felt a little bit better overall today. I was trying to space out and not do the injection every game, but right now it’s needed,” Porter said. “I still don’t feel like I can play physically or bum guys the way I would like to. But I am able to do what I can.”
- The Nuggets had the league’s 22nd-ranked defense during the regular season, but they’ve increased their intensity in the playoffs, observes Tony Jones of The Athletic. Players said they were embarrassed by the Game 2 blowout, and they made a point of being more physical on Friday.
And-Ones: Wright, Rookie Extensions, All-Interview Team, More
Former Colorado guard McKinley Wright IV, who appeared in 32 NBA regular season games for Minnesota and Dallas from 2021-23, has been named the Most Valuable Player for the ABA League (formerly known as the Adriatic League) in Europe.
Wright has spent the last two seasons playing for KK Buducnost and led the Montenegrin team to a 26-4 record and a No. 1 seed in ABA competition this season. The 26-year-old, known as a solid perimeter defender, averaged team bests of 12.8 points and 4.9 assists in 22.5 minutes per game, with an excellent shooting line of .545/.370/.848.
Wright now has the honor of sharing a career accomplishment with future Hall of Famer Nikola Jokic, who was named the MVP of the ABA League in 2014/15, his age-20 season, when he played for Mega Basket in Serbia.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report considers the likelihood of a new deal for each of the 22 players eligible for rookie scale extensions this offseason. Pincus forecasts maximum-salary extensions for Magic forward Paolo Banchero and Thunder teammates Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, while predicting that Pistons big man Jalen Duren (four years, $112MM) will get the fourth-most lucrative deal among that group, ahead of Hawks guard Dyson Daniels and Nuggets guard Christian Braun (four years, $94MM each).
- The Professional Basketball Writers Association officially named its first and second “All-Interview” teams for the 2024/25 season this week, recognizing the players who are “consistently thoughtful, insightful and engaging with the media.” As the PBWA details in a press release, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Donovan Mitchell, and Draymond Green made the first team, with Tyrese Haliburton, Mike Conley, Bam Adebayo, Josh Hart, and Damian Lillard making up the second team.
- Amid reports that Shaquille O’Neal will be part of a new ownership group taking control of Napoli Basket, the Italian team issued a statement shooting down those rumors and referring to them as unfounded.
- 2025 has been the year of the NBA playoff comeback so far. Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press and Jeff Zillgitt and Lorenzo Reyes of USA Today take a closer look at how teams keep coming back from deficits of 20 or more points this spring.
Draft Notes: NBAGL Elite Camp, Niederhauser, Combine, Ruzic
Malique Lewis (South East Melbourne), Amari Williams (Kentucky), Caleb Love (Arizona), Caleb Grill (Missouri), and Yanic Konan Niederhauser (Penn State) are among the top prospects teams will be watching at this weekend’s G League Elite Camp in Chicago, according to Jonathan Givony of ESPN.
The standout players at the G League event typically earn invitations to the full-fledged combine that will take place this coming week. Givony expects about five-to-eight prospects to move on, noting that players like Terance Mann, Cody Martin, and Aaron Wiggins have gotten “called up” from the Elite Camp to the combine in the past before going on to establish themselves in the NBA.
According to Jon Chepkevich of Rookie Scale (Twitter link), Niederhauser has been the “early star” of the G League Elite Camp, racking up 17 points, four rebounds, and a pair of blocks in the first scrimmage. The Penn State forward looks like a safe bet to be among the players who advance to the combine, Chepkevich adds.
Missouri’s Tamar Bates led all scorers in the first Elite Camp scrimmage with 19 points. The full stats can be viewed here (via Twitter).
Here are a few more draft-related notes:
- Jeremy Woo of ESPN.com identifies Yaxel Lendeborg (UAB), Boogie Fland (Arkansas), Darrion Williams (Texas Tech), Rocco Zikarsky (Brisbane), and Miles Byrd (San Diego State) as five prospects to monitor at the combine, noting that they still have the option of withdrawing if they don’t have strong showings this week.
- Lendeborg, the No. 26 prospect on ESPN’s big board, has committed to transferring to Michigan and may only decide to turn pro if he draws serious first-round interest from a specific NBA team or teams, Woo writes, since he can make “excellent” money if he spends 2025/26 with the Wolverines.
- PJ Haggerty, Jamir Watkins, and RJ Luis Jr. are three more NCAA prospects whose performances at the combine will be of particular interest to college teams, Givony notes in the same story. In addition to testing the draft waters, all three players are in the transfer portal and haven’t yet committed to a new school, so they’ll be popular targets if they opt not to remain in the draft pool.
- Although Joventut Badalona’s season isn’t over yet, Croatian power forward Michael Ruzic, who plays for the Spanish club, has been cleared to attend the NBA’s draft combine this week and will be a full participant in 5×5 scrimmages, agent Bill Duffy tells Givony (Twitter link). Ruzic missed significant time due to a thumb injury this season and has played a limited role when healthy, so the Chicago combine will give NBA evaluators an opportunity to take an extended first-hand look at a prospect who ranks 49th overall on ESPN’s board.
Celtics’ Sam Hauser Remains Out For Game 3
Celtics forward Sam Hauser will miss a second consecutive game due to a right ankle sprain, the team announced ahead of Saturday’s Game 3 vs. the Knicks.
Hauser, who suffered the injury on Monday and exited TD Garden in a walking boot after Boston’s Game 1 loss, was initially listed as doubtful for Game 2 on Wednesday before being ruled out. He also had a doubtful designation on the injury report for this afternoon’s contest before he was downgraded.
While Hauser isn’t one of the Celtics’ most important contributors, he was the eighth man in the rotation for much of the season and played a regular role off the bench in the first round against Orlando, averaging 14.6 minutes per game across those five contests. During the regular season, he averaged 8.5 points and 3.2 rebounds in 21.7 minutes per game across 71 outings (19 starts), knocking down 41.6% of his three-pointers.
With Hauser unavailable and Kristaps Porzingis limited to 14 minutes due to an illness, head coach Joe Mazzulla leaned more heavily on his starters in Game 2 of Boston’s second-round series, with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Derrick White each logging at least 40 minutes. It wasn’t enough for the Celtics, who dropped both home games and will be looking for their first win of the series in New York in Game 3.
Hauser is the only player listed on Saturday’s injury report for either team.