Warriors need more of that from Wiggins
The Warriors have been searching all season for a No. 2 scorer to compliment Stephen Curry — someone who can take advantage of the gravity Curry creates and drop an efficient 30 points.
In short, a Klay Thompson replacement.
Against the top team in the Western Conference Sunday afternoon, they might have found him.
Now, the big question: Can Andrew Wiggins keep this up?
There were so many good things the Warriors did on Sunday. They played with energy and purpose on both ends of the floor; their bench — led by youngsters Niko Mannion, Jordan Poole, and James Wiseman — turned in a strong performance; and Draymond Green was fearless with the ball in his hands, shooting 10 times and scoring 11 points.
All of these things need to be part of the Warriors’ formula for victory moving forward.
But the Wiggins’ best offensive game of the season looms largest.
The Warriors wing scored 28 points on 75 percent shoot
ing Sunday. Matched up against a smaller Donovan Mitchell or a slower Joe Ingles, Wiggins was confident, aggressive, and decisive. In a league that’s defined by do-it-all wings, Wiggins looked the part Sunday.
Maybe it was the matchups — Utah’s wing defense has been discussed all season as a serious liability.
Maybe it was Warriors coach Steve Kerr asking for more from someone, anyone on his roster.
Or perhaps it was the steady, low-grade hum of trade rumors that have surrounded him in recent weeks. A lot of people — myself included — believed that the Warriors weren’t going to find that secondary scorer on their roster and that they should go outside the organization to find one.
But no matter what the reason, the Warriors need to find a way to bottle that energy. Wiggins doesn’t need to shoot 75 percent every night — that’d be ridiculous — but If the Canadian keeps playing with the purpose and he showed against the Jazz, the Warriors’ offense — the which has been lacking, despite Curry’s MVP-worthy campaign — becomes formidable. Paired that with Golden State’s strong defense — Wiggins has a big role in that, too — the Warriors stand a chance of winning some games and perhaps even jumping out of the play-in game bracket.
Of course, there have been Wiggins games like this before.
Not with the Warriors — not this season, at least — but back in Minnesota, he’d tantalize the Timberwolves fanbase, on occasion, with a big-time game like Sunday’s.
Then he’d revert to his more natural state.
One could argue Wiggins’ entire career has been defined by not maintaining the level of aggression we saw Sunday.
That simply cannot be the case moving forward. Not if the Warriors want to make something out of this season. Not if the Dubs’ long-term plan, which is heavily reliant on Wiggins to develop into something better than Harrison Barnes, is to pan out.
Again, Wiggins doesn’t need to drop 28 points every night, but when his number is called, he needs to come through more often than not. On the whole, this season, that has not been the case, but a performance like Sunday’s hints at bigger and better things.
If those are, indeed, in the cards — we’ll see — Wiggins can quickly revamp his reputation around the league.
He’s already come a long way in doing that in his first full season with the Warriors. His defense — while a bit down Sunday — has been strong all season. He’s a big part of the Warriors’ ninth-ranked defense
(per Cleaning The Glass), which is inarguably the team’s identity this season.
But there are levels to this, Wiggins has all the talent to be an elite player. He’s paid like an elite player in this league. But elite players bring it on both ends every night. Elite players don’t disappear for not just stretches, quarters, or games, but for weeks at a time on the offensive end.
Has something clicked for No. 22? Or was it just a good afternoon and another tease from the wing?
We’re going to find out in the coming days — the Warriors play four more games this week.
But if the former is the case, it changes everything for the Dubs.