The Warriors will be without their high-scoring forward for a second consecutive game
The Golden State Warriors will try to continue their road winning streak Friday in Charlotte, but they’ll have to do it without their 21-year-old phenom.
Jonathan Kuminga and Dario Saric are both out for the Warriors today in Charlotte. Second straight missed game for Kuminga with what is listed as left knee soreness. Steve Kerr called it tendinitis bothering him.
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) March 29, 2024
Kuminga is missing his second straight game with knee soreness. Steve Kerr says he has “tendinitis,” which is a Latin term that loosely translates to “We don’t know what’s wrong.” GSOM favorite Dario Saric is also still hurt.
That means the Warriors are facing a short rotation at the forward spots. That rotation got especially short in Wednesday’s game against the Orlando Magic, when Draymond Green got ejected in the first four minutes. Missing usual starters Green and Kuminga for most of the game, the team got strong performances from Trayce Jackson-Davis (8 points, 14 rebounds) and the oft-forgotten Moses Moody (12 points, five rebounds).
They got the opposite of a strong performance from rookie Gui Santos, who did make a three-pointer, but otherwise logged a near-impossible plus/minus of -16 in his six minutes of play. You should not be surprised to learn that the team’s young Brazilian was optioned to Santa Cruz.
The Warriors have assigned forward Gui Santos to Santa Cruz: pic.twitter.com/YolLWEScWl
— Warriors PR (@WarriorsPR) March 29, 2024
Santos got torched a few times on defense against Orlando, especially when helping off shooters, leaving them wide open behind the three-point line. But in fairness to Santos, that’s kind of the Warriors’ signature move on defense. To paraphrase the old anti-drug commercial, he learned it by watching you!
The Hornets will be without LaMelo Ball, ruled out for the season this week. They’ll also be missing Cody Martin, Mark Williams, and Seth Curry, who is genetically a Splash Brother. Davis Bertans and his broken nose will be a game time decision.