Warriors cruise with Jonathan Kuminga’s return, top Jazz while Steph Curry sits

So long as they’re winning games — like the one Sunday at Chase Center.

“I’m always more concerned about going in there and impacting wins,” the 21-year-old forward said after returning as a reserve from bilateral knee tendinitis. “Because a win is a win at the end of the day.

“And just play my game. That’s pretty much it.”

Kuminga played his game, all right, against the Utah Jazz in a 118-110 victory, providing 21 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in 27 minutes to end his six-game absence in style.

Klay Thompson scored 25 of his team-high 32 points in the first half for the Golden State, which rested guard Stephen Curry. Chris Paul started in Curry’s place, recording 12 points and nine assists, and orchestrating an attack that produced 53.3% field-goal shooting. 

Having clinched a berth in the Western Conference’s four-team play-in round, the 10th-place Warriors (43-35) picked up a game on the ninth-place Los Angeles Lakers, who lost Sunday to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Golden State trails L.A. by 1.5 games with four games for the Warriors and three for the Lakers left in the regular season. 

Golden State plays the Lakers (45-34) on Tuesday at Crypto.com Arena in the last of four regular-season meetings.

Should the Warriors win, they’ll own the tiebreaker and can claim from L.A. the superior seed should they win their three remaining games. 

“The guys are really clear about what we’re fighting for and what we’re trying to do,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “It’s going to be very interesting. Four games left and lots of different possibilities. We’ve just got to keep winning.”

The Warriors have won seven of their past eight games and add Kuminga to a rotation that has fallen into place: Curry, Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis are the starters when everybody’s healthy, Kerr all but indicated after the game. 

Rookie Brandin Podziemski started Sunday for Wiggins, providing 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists as Wiggins nurses a minor left-ankle injury.
Kuminga checked in 5:46 into the first quarter, assuming the explosiveness that powers his production — and drawing an ovation from another sellout crowd.

“Today was just the day, I felt like I was back to myself. And I decided, to say, ‘It’s time to come play,’ ” said Kuminga, who showcased his expanding offensive repertoire in making his first five field-goal tries.

He swished a triple from the left corner, glided in transition for a coast-to-coast layup, buried a one-dribble pull-up two-pointer, backed a smaller defender into the block for a turnaround and finished an alley-oop layup from Paul.

Thompson keyed a 68-54 halftime lead, bringing Curry to his feet in celebration with pull-up jumper after pull-up jumper.

The Jazz were without forward Lauri Markkanen — among several other rotational players — leaving Johnny Juzang (27 points) to be their leading scorer in a game in which they trailed by double figures for much of the evening.

Kuminga in the second half added three decisive drives and finishes, showcasing his bounce with an alley-oop dunk he effortlessly finished via a pass from Podziemski.

“It was amazing” having Kuminga back, said Podziemski. “It’ll be fun to have me, Chris and Jonathan come off the bench together if that happens. He’s so athletic and impacts the game with so much force. It’s easy to play with him.”

Kuminga started 44 games but doesn’t expect the Warriors to deviate from a starting lineup that’s working.

Not a problem for him, he says, because “as long as I’m out there and affecting us winning, that’s all that matters.

“If everything is moving well, why would you want to go away from what’s moving well? Me, personally, I think since I’ve been out, everything has been moving just fine. It’s not because I’m out. … But at this point, everything is moving well. We’re just going to stick with what’s helped us winning and keep winning games.”

Reach Sam Gordon: sam.gordon@sfchronicle.com

April 7, 2024

Sam Gordon comes to the San Francisco Chronicle by way of Las Vegas, where he spent seven years covering the city’s emergence as a pro sporting hub for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. As a sports reporter and columnist, he wrote about the Raiders, Aces, Golden Knights, UNLV and boxing. Along the way, he maintained an emphasis on basketball, football and boxing at every level. New to the Bay Area, he’s thrilled to focus full-time on the Golden State Warriors and NBA as part of the Chronicle’s incredible staff. A proud Minneapolis native and University of Minnesota graduate, Gordon also enjoys music (hip-hop), fitness, movies and board games. His favorite food is tacos. He coached high school basketball for three years as an assistant. He still appreciates “three yards and a cloud of dust.” Big Ten (and Wu-Tang) forever.