After losing their final regular season game, the Golden State Warriors fell into the play-in zone. They finished the regular season as the seventh seed, meaning they will have homecourt advantage in the first play-in game vs the Memphis Grizzlies.
Curry Believes This Player Needs To Be Ready For Play-In Game
Following their loss to the Clippers on Sunday, Steph Curry talked about the upcoming play-in game against the Grizzlies. He also talked about Jonathan Kuminga. While the young forward didn’t play against the Clippers, Curry believes he will be a huge factor moving on. After the game, Curry said,
“Just to be ready. It’s the test of a young player in this league and especially with our team. Never knowing when your moment will be there, even in the brightest and highest of moments. It wasn’t his time tonight. I guess Memphis could be a game where he makes his presence felt. Don’t let noise outside of the locker room – the attention that might come from it – distract you from your ability to make an impact when your number is called.”
For what it is worth, Kuminga appeared in three of the four games the teams played this season. He finished his games against the Grizzlies with 13, 11, and eight points. In one of those games, he got to the free-throw line 10 times. That is the difference that Kuminga can make in this playoffs, giving the Warriors a player who can drive to the basket and make plays.
Warriors vs Grizzlies Preview – Who Has the Advantage?
The Warriors play at home, and that might be the biggest advantage. But they also have a mental advantage. For the last two seasons, the Warriors have been dominating the Grizzlies. They won the season series this year 3-1, and last year, they won two of the three meetings.
Warriors vs Grizzlies should deliver an exciting play-in game. Both teams are almost even in their head-to-head historical matchup. Golden State leads the all-time series 58-52. But they have always been closely matched. Even when Kevin Durant was in a Warriors uniform, Memphis managed to take two games from them during the 2016-17 season.
We should be in for a treat, so let’s see how everything unfolds. This will be the Warriors chance to break their play-in curse. They are 0-3 so far in play-in games.
Kuminga and Moody’s Playoff Experience Should Pay Off
Kuminga and Moses Moody were 19 and 20 years old respectively when the Warriors last won the title. While they didn’t get many minutes, they still got a taste of the playoffs in 2022.
So far in their career, Kuminga averages 7.7 minutes per game in the playoffs, while Moody averages 10.6 minutes. This time around, both will be counted for carrying a heavier load in the playoffs.
For the Warriors to have any chance of competing for a championship this year, one of them has to turn into Jordan Poole. During that NBA Finals run, Poole started by averaging 21 points in the first round. He dropped to 13.2 points in the NBA Finals. If both Moody and Kuminga can average more than 12 points per game during this playoff run, the Warriors will have a chance.
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