Getty Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers. Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga recently shared a funny anecdote about his interaction with Leonard.
The Golden State Warriors took down the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night, to tally their fifth straight win. In their 108-99 win over the Pelicans, Golden State got a solid contribution from their bench, including 19 points from Jonathan Kuminga.
The 20-year-old’s added scoring punch was an efficient one. He knocked down 9 of his 13 attempts from the floor. On top of that, he secured 7 boards for the Dubs, and tallied 4 steals.
After his strong performance, Kuminga sat down with reporters. He was asked if he’d had a chance to chat with Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard, who was in town just a day prior.
Kuminga shared a quick anecdote about his interaction with Leonard, which turned out to be pretty on-brand for the quiet Clippers star.
“He don’t really talk,” Kuminga said via 95.7 The Game. “The first time I ever heard him talk was yesterday. I dabbed him and he was like, ‘keep working boy and stay healthy.’ That was my first time (talking to him), and that was my second time playing against him.”
Did Kawhi Leonard say anything/give advice to Kuminga yesterday?
“He don’t really talk… The first time I ever heard him talk was yesterday. I dabbed him and he was like, ‘keep working and stay healthy.'”
CJ McCollum Discusses Pels’ Struggles vs. Warriors
In his team’s loss to Golden State, Pelicans guard CJ McCollum scored a team-high 25 points, as well as logging a game-high 40 minutes.
McCollum took some time after the game to break down what went wrong for his team in their loss to the Warriors.
“I mean, whenever you lose, it’s not ideal. But I mean, we competed,” McCollum said via the Pelicans’ official YouTube channel. “We gave ourselves a chance. A couple plays that didn’t go our way down the stretch, but all in all, I mean, you give up 108 points. Twenty-six in the fourth. That second quarter hurt us. [In the] third quarter, the Warriors are very good. Historically, they go on runs in the third quarter. I mean, we only give up 28 points. But I think for us, it’s just about executing, trying to get stops, and then, when you’re playing against a team like that, you can’t give them two and three opportunities to score. It’s hard enough to stop them the first time, and then when they get kick-out threes, I think that makes it difficult. But all in all, I think we gave ourselves a chance. We just gotta get more stops, we got to play with more force, and we got to execute better.”
Warriors to Add Stephen Curry Back To Lineup vs. Lakers
Friday’s win over the Pelicans sounds like it’ll be the Warriors last game for a while without star guard Stephen Curry.
Curry has been sidelined for a month, after going down with a lower left-leg injury on February 4.
According to Chris Haynes of TNT and Bleacher Report, the 2022 Finals MVP is planning to suit up for the Dubs on Sunday, when they take on the Los Angeles Lakers.
“Golden State star Stephen Curry (leg) intends to make his return on Sunday on the road against the Los Angeles Lakers barring a setback, league sources tell NBA on TNT, Bleacher Report,” Haynes reported in a tweet.
Golden State star Stephen Curry (leg) intends to make his return on Sunday on the road against the Los Angeles Lakers barring a setback, league sources tell @NBAonTNT, @BleacherReport.