SAN FRANCISCO — There aren’t many teams who can turn any given Thursday night into a slice of basketball history, but Jonathan Kuminga has been on one of them since he walked into the league. He’s used to being under one of several spotlights by now.
The same game Kuminga made his much anticipated debut after missing the past 31 games with a severe ankle sprain, Steph Curry made his 4,000th career regular-season 3 and Steve Kerr won his 557th regular season game to tie Al Attles for the franchise record.
Even though he may have gotten pushed down a peg in the attention economy, Kuminga dropped 18 points in 20 minutes on 7-for-10 shooting. He played a five-minute burst each quarter, shared the court with Jimmy Butler for the first time and didn’t try to do too much all at once.
Kuminga and Curry were two of eight Warriors to reach double figures in their 130-104 win. The Warriors made over half their 3-pointers, Draymond Green dropped a season-best 23 points and Moses Moody (17 points) dished a career-high six assists. Golden State (38-28) is a season-high 10 games over .500 and has earned significant separation over Sacramento in the standings. They’re 13-1 with Butler in the lineup and have won 11 of their last 12 games.
Before Curry entered the league, no player had ever eclipsed 3,000. With 8:19 left in the third quarter, he inaugurated the 4K club. The team showed a video montage during the next break, giving fans a chance at their second standing ovation and M-V-P chants.
Kerr’s 557th win as head coach is emblematic of his longevity and the consistency his dynastic Warriors have shown over the years.
Kerr couldn’t have imagined either landmark, not when he took the job ahead of the 2014-15 season when Curry was still emerging as a star. Kerr would’ve washed out within a year or two with the Knicks had he chosen to join Phil Jackson’s franchise. Curry had ankle problems. Neither record was preordained.
The two milestones are intertwined. Kerr’s certainly wouldn’t have happened without Curry, and likely vice versa.
Five minutes into the game, Kuminga checked in for his first action since severely spraining his ankle on Jan. 4. He’d missed 31 straight games, and the crowd knew it. As he got his first touch, bringing the ball across halfcourt, the Chase Center fans rose to their feet and gave him a spirited round of applause.
Shortly thereafter, Kuminga drove on a fast break, stayed under control and found Curry with a wraparound pass for 3.
That was 3-pointer No. 3,999 for No. 30.
Kuminga scored his first bucket in over two months with a left-handed finish on a swift drive. The building again erupted, but no one in the arena was more hyped than owner Joe Lacob sitting courtside.
Kuminga played his first minutes alongside Jimmy Butler late in the first half, entering with the Warriors up 20. The group — perhaps the Warriors’ closing lineup — fizzled into halftime along with another combination that replaced it. The Warriors ceded a 17-4 run to end the second quarter.
The Kings did everything they could to deny Curry his 4,000th triple. They face-guarded him and doubled him, taking away his air space and forcing the ball out of his hands. As he was stuck on one 3, his teammates Gary Payton II (3-for-3), Quinten Post (3-for-6) and Draymond Green (3-for-4) hit 10 of their first 14 tries.
Finally, Curry freed himself for his 4,000th career 3. On a broken play, he pump-faked a Kings defender out of his shoes to gain breathing room to fire and swish. Chase Center erupted and then sang M-V-P chants.
At the next break, they stood again as the jumbo tron flashed a celebratory message and video tribute from some of his teammates and former teammates. Comedian Dave Chapelle narrated a 60-second advertisement for the occasion. Curry’s bourbon brand, Gentleman’s Cut, launched an exclusive batch of bottles that were aged exactly 4,000 days.
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Pageantries aside, the Warriors really needed Curry to break free for the 3. The Kings had turned a 23-point deficit into four, challenging Golden State by turning them over and making 3-pointers of their own.
Curry’s 3 was a release. From then on, it was all Warriors. Just another one of 4,000 momentum-swingers.
In his last stint, Kuminga cut baseline and finished a double-pump dunk. Then he soared, head over the rim, for another two-handed flush. A minute later, he flushed an alley-oop lob after Curry freed him with a back screen.
That’s one way to stamp Kerr’s franchise record-matching win.
