What we learned as Wiggins supports the Warriors winning

What we learned as Wiggins fueled Warriors win was originally published on NBC Sports Bay Area

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SAN FRANCISCO — Stephen Curry had 23 points and eight assists as the Warriors won their fifth straight home game and beat the Atlanta Hawks 120-97 at the Chase Center on Wednesday.

Andrew Wiggins had 27 points and seven rebounds as Golden State bounced back from a heartbreaking loss to the Los Angeles Clippers two days earlier. Trayce Jackson-Davis added 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Draymond Green had another all-around rubber night for coach Steve Kerr’s team (nine points, seven rebounds, nine assists, 1 steal, two blocks).

The Western Conference-leading Warriors improved to 11-3 and will face three beatable teams in the coming days. After road games against the New Orleans Pelicans and San Antonio Spurs, Golden State returns home to play the Brooklyn Nets on Monday before taking on conference rivals Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets, followed by back-to-back games against each other. Minnesota Timberwolves at Chase Center.

At one point it looked like it might be a daunting task for the Warriors. Now it looks like another opportunity for Golden State to add to an already promising season.

Golden State certainly appeared in top form against Atlanta, though it was learned that day that guard De’Anthony Melton would undergo season-ending knee surgery.

Even without Melton, the Warriors had it pretty easy against the Hawks.

Golden State led by 31, had one of its best shooting nights of the season (47 of 100) and dished out 36 assists.

About the only thing that went wrong was when sophomore guard Brandin Podziemski — who wore a face mask early in the season after suffering a broken nose — was hit in the face early in the fourth quarter and was down for a few moments before leaving. court slowly. Kerr said after the game, X-rays on the injury came back negative.

The Warriors got off to a fast start and dropped a season-high 41 points on the Hawks in the first quarter. Buddy Hield had eight points during the opening rush, but it was, of course, Curry who provided the signature moment when he made a basket while falling to the floor and was fouled to complete a three-point play.

Golden State took a 67-42 advantage into halftime and held a 15-point lead heading into the fourth quarter before pulling away for the victory.

Here are the highlights from Wednesday’s game:

Waters gets first crack at the squirt

Liking what he had seen from Linda Waters III in previous weeks, Kerr gave the fourth-year pro his first chance to replace Melton in the starting lineup. Waters, who was solid both off the bench and in a starting role during the 2024 season, scored 10 points and was a plus-16 in 23 minutes

Waters scored the Warriors’ first points of the night on a sweet baseline drive, then spent most of his first inning defending Hawks point guard Trae Young. Young took just one shot in the first quarter en route to a 4-of-12 shooting night.

All of that should be enough to keep Waters in the lineup, though Kerr said before the game that Podziemski could factor into the equation.

Melton finally found his rhythm with Golden State on both ends when he got hurt, so his absence will be tough to overcome no matter who Kerr turns to.

Bounce-back Night For Bench

The Warriors have the best reserves in the NBA, and after a night against the Clippers two days ago, Golden State’s bench bounced back to beat the Hawks.

After the combination of Wiggins and Jonathan Kuminga, the Warriors bench outscored the Hawks 37-36. The way Golden State’s starters scored, the bench wasn’t as important as it once was, but it was still encouraging to see them do what they do best.

At this rate, it’s very likely that the Warriors will be in contention for the title of best bench of all time. The 2018-19 Los Angeles Clippers hold the NBA record for highest bench average with 53.2 points per game. Golden State went into Wednesday’s game averaging an NBA-leading 56.4 points.

Doing it with defense

While the Warriors are known for their offensive fireworks, they are proving to be a very good team defensively, a point that was emphatically made against the Hawks.

Atlanta was held 19 points below its season average of 116, shot just 35 of 105 from the field (12 of 46 3-pointers) and committed 17 turnovers that led to 22 points for Golden State.

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