Considering the sublime form that the Orlando Magic have been in, the Golden State Warriors were not expected to clinch the win tonight. However, a dominant performance by Andrew Wiggins in the fourth quarter, helped the Bay Area side clinch a win and keep their postseason hopes alive. Merely a day after Klay Thompson spoke about Wiggins’ importance, following tonight’s game, the latter received praises from Stephen Curry this time.
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Andrew Wiggins was having a relatively slow night until the final period. Recording 13 points and 3 rebounds in the final 12 minutes of the game, the 6ft 7” forward finished the night with 23 points and 6 rebounds on 47.1% FG and 50% 3FG, per NBA.com.
Speaking about Wiggins’ game-winning performance, Steph revealed how the Warriors’ game plan was to run plays through the Canadian during the fourth quarter.
“He took over pretty much that entire fourth quarter. We ran pretty much the offense through him and he just made play after play,” Steph said.
Curry also highlighted the importance of Andrew Wiggins putting up such a production during the final stage of the season. As per the two-time MVP, with the 29-year-old being aggressive, he can raise the level for the San Francisco side and lead them to wins.
“You put the ball in his hands and he can make plays. He won us the game tonight, plain and simple. Just probably he took that challenge on him… The ability for him to just be aggressive and take the shots that he knows he can take. Put pressure on the rim, knocking down threes, like everything. He had the whole bag working today,” Curry added, peer Anthony Slater.
Klay Thompson, after yesterday night’s win over the Miami Heat, also spoke about the importance of Wiggins on the team in their pursuit to win a championship. At first, Thompson emphasized the highflyer’s two-way abilities. The Splash Brother also claimed that the Golden State Warriors would not be able to perform at their full potential without Wiggs.
“That’s why we won the championship. It was because of Andrew’s two-way play. We obviously need him to be that [a two-way player] to go where we wanna go and he is so vital to what we do. Without him, we can not reach our full potential,” Thompson mentioned.
Averaging 12.9 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game, per NBA.com, the former Kansas Jayhawk barely has the same production level as he had in the 2022 Finals. However, Wiggins has picked up pace over the past week. Helping the Warriors win three games out of five, the All-Star has lodged 17 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game, per ESPN.
As the Warriors are in a tough battle against the Houston Rockets to finish 10th in the standings, Andrew Wiggins will need to put up several such outings for the remainder of the season and help Steph Curry lead the team to clinch a spot in the postseason.
