During the season in which the Spurs had risen so rapidly, Jonathan Kuminga, a player the team had once placed great hopes in, had been having a rough time.
He had gone from a starting forward at the beginning of the season to a rotation player, then spent long stretches riding the bench. Now, in the playoffs, his poor performances in the play-in tournament and G1 had led the coaching staff to nail him to the bench in G2. He had not gotten even a single minute on the court.
For a young player who considered himself exceptionally talented and desperately wanted a big contract, this was undoubtedly a crushing blow.
But there was nothing he could do.
At the end of the day, a young forward with a bit of athleticism hardly had the standing to challenge the authority of Popovich and his coaching staff on the Spurs. That would have been asking for trouble.
So the young man could only swallow his grievances, bottle up his frustration and resentment, and obediently watch from the bench.
Whatever else might be said, one thing was certain: a rift had now formed between Kuminga and the Spurs.
That might affect San Antonio's future roster-building plans and flexibility...
For now, though, the Spurs still appeared to have a very "promising future."
When the games on the 25th ended, every first-round series had completed G2.
A full seven teams had taken 2-0 leads through the first two games.
Aside from the Nuggets, whom the Spurs had forced into a 1-1 tie, the vast majority of matchups had gone very "smoothly"~~
After that, the series continued as scheduled...
April 26 arrived.
G3 between the Nets and the Hawks.
Brooklyn secured another comfortable victory, 136-123.
James Harden put up another impressive line of 33 points,