Andrew Wiggins shines on playoff stage for Warriors
SAN FRANCISCO — Andrew Wiggins hoisted his daughter Amyah into his arms and beamed as the Warriors were crowned Western Conference champions.
Stephen Curry and Draymond Green each had hardware in their hands or they most certainly would have lifted Wiggins into the air to celebrate all he has meant to Golden State’s latest postseason run.
He defended Luka Doncic full-court. He drove and dunked on Doncic with an emphatic in-your-face one-handed slam. He is knocking down big shots and securing rebounds at the right times.
“Just living in the moment, just taking it all in, winning,” Wiggins said Monday. “... Just winning with this team, with these guys has been the most important thing.”
From the moment Wiggins began hearing rumblings of a possible trade to the Warriors from Minnesota ahead of the deadline in February 2020, he allowed himself to imagine the possibility of winning it all with Curry, Green and Klay Thompson. He pictured playing for coach Steve Kerr.
Now, he’s about to be on the NBA Finals stage with a chance to do it.
Game 1 against the Boston Celtics is Thursday night at Chase Center, where
Golden State is 9-0 this postseason and Wiggins again will be tasked with a tough defensive matchup, this time to slow down Jayson Tatum.
“I love playing defense, I think I’m good at it,” Wiggins said. “I love taking on the challenge.”
For all those months after being traded when Wiggins faced questions about how he would fit with the Warriors, he has shown he is right where he belongs — and in the finals for the first time in his eight-year career.
The Warriors were in need of an athletic wing and found that player in the 6-foot-7 Wiggins, who once he arrived no longer had to
drew the team’s first walk and Austin Charles launched a high-arcing double to right field to advance him to third, but none of the next three batters could bring either runner home, which kept the score at 2-0.
That momentum swing came immediately before McArthur and Burke extended the margin to six runs.
Just four days after Charles shot a grand slam to left field to help Stockdale earn its section title, the Mustangs loaded the bases for him again in the fifth inning. This time it came on singles from Hayden Elchlepp and Shane Heriford and a second walk by Rodriguez. However, after a challenging at-bat against Luu, Charles hit a ground ball hard to shortstop and couldn’t beat the throw to first base.
Luu stayed on the mound into the sixth but promptly allowed a double to Enyart, a run he ultimately got charged for when Mason Miles gave up an immediate single to Owen Bolich. That broke the shutout, and the Mustangs tacked on one more score in the seventh after a Matt Torres single, an error, and a pair of groundouts.
Nick Brown pitched a pair of scoreless, hitless innings for Stockdale late with five strikeouts.
The Mustangs suffered their largest loss since April 13 against Danville-San Ramon Valley but finish the season at 26-5 with a section title in hand. The Spartans advance to play at Huntington Beach Thursday.