What layoff? Warriors' Jonathan Kuminga shines in return

Kuminga scored 18 points in 20 minutes off the bench as the Warriors defeated the Sacramento Kings, 130-104. The win makes them 13-2 since Jimmy Butler joined the team Feb. 8. In those last 15 games, Golden State has the NBA's second-best defensive rating and its third-best defensive rating and is outscoring opponents by 12.9 points per 100 possessions.

Because Kuminga had been out so long and the Warriors had made so many changes since he sprained his ankle Jan. 4, there was uncertainty about how Kuminga would fit in. Kuminga is an excellent scorer and dunk threat, but he's only a 34.5% three-pointer shooter, not an ideal fit alongside limited outside shooters Butler and Draymond Green.

But on Thursday, Kuminga reminded the league why he's such an important offensive threat for the Warriors. Sacramento's defense was predicated on denying Steph Curry the ball. While he made his 4,000th career three-pointer, Curry took only nine shots and scored just 11 points thanks to the Kings face-guarding him even when he didn't have the ball.

Kuminga took advantage, exploiting the attention on Curry to cut to the rim for dunks. On one fourth-quarter dunk, Curry even pointed at where Sacramento's Keegan Murray should have been after Kuminga's easy basket.

Having Kuminga on the floor punishes opposing defenses for focusing too much on Curry. Besides Curry, he's the team's most effective driver, getting to the hoop for layups and drawing three shooting fouls Thursday night. By the fourth quarter, when Kuminga had settled in, he made three dunks off assists from three different players.

After the game, Green told reporters that despite their recent hot streak, getting Kuminga back was huge for the Warriors, saying, "We needed him back in a major way."

The next test comes Saturday night, when the Warriors host the New York Knicks on ABC. Rejoining the Western Conference's hottest team didn't faze Kuminga, so don't expect the national-television audience to slow down his dunking, either.