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‘Aggressive’ Wiggins a telling sign Warriors warmly welcoming originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SALT LAKE CITY – The Warriors’ search for a second-leading scorer behind Steph Curry took center stage throughout the offseason, especially after they weren’t able to pair him with an established star like Paul George or Lauri Markkanen. Coach Steve Kerr quickly pointed to Andrew Wiggins, stating that the 2022 NBA All-Star is a 20-point scorer on a nightly basis in the prime of his career at 29 years old.
And in the Warriors’ season opener, Wiggins looked ready to take on that role, scoring an efficient 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting and 4 of 7 from 3-point range. But in the Warriors’ second game of the regular season, Wiggins couldn’t buy a bucket.
He took four shots in the first quarter and connected only once. Wiggins then had three more shots attempts in the second quarter, and missed all three. His first-half scoring numbers were a lowly two points on 1-of-7 shooting. When Wiggins is at his best, however, his game is about far more than just scoring.
Another factor from that 2022 All-Star campaign that led to a Warriors championship showed up Friday night in Golden State’s 127-86 blowout over the Utah Jazz on the road: Rebounding.
Wiggins in the first half alone came down with 10 rebounds, five offensive and five defensive, which is his most ever for a half in his career.
“You feel it,” Draymond Green said to NBC Sports Bay Area. “You know right away when Wiggs is being aggressive. And when he’s not, we’re all on him, to understand that we need him to be aggressive. He made his presence felt right from the gate, which was huge for us, because they were coming to the board hard to start the game.”
Kerr’s new starting lineup of Curry, Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga, Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis struggled early for the second straight game. The Jazz were outworking them, too. When Kerr called his first timeout, the Warriors were down 15-6 at the 6:27 mark of the first quarter and the Jazz (12) already had seven more rebounds than the Warriors (five). Wiggins was replaced a little more…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/aggressive-wiggins-telling-sign-warriors-172158904.html
Author : NBC Sports BayArea
Publish date : 2024-10-26 17:21:00
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