What we learned as Wiggins backs Warriors NBA Cup win over Pelicans originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
BOX SCORE
The court was an enchanting blue, the New Orleans Pelicans were without several top players and the Warriors had to fight until the final seconds to win 112-108 in the opening night on Friday night at the Smoothie King Center. against each other.
The Pelicans entered the night having lost 12 of their previous 14 games.
Andrew Wiggins’ season-high 30 points led the Warriors to lead both teams. Steph Curry scored 19 points, grabbed seven rebounds and added seven assists, while Draymond Green also chipped in with 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Golden State improved to 3-0 in the NBA Cup and is now 56-7 all-time with Green making three or more 3-pointers. The Warriors are now 5-2 in clutch games this season, with both losses coming to the LA Clippers.
Here are three takeaways from the Warriors’ win against the Pelicans.
Wiggins is on fire
Wiggins scored 20 points in the season opener and then 29 in Game 3 for the Warriors, giving him two 20-point performances in the first three games of the year. He then went seven straight games without scoring 20 points.
After his 30-point game Friday night in New Orleans, Wiggins has scored at least 20 points in three straight games, scoring 22 and 27 in the previous two.
His opening shot was literally perfect. Wiggins scored 13 points in eight minutes in the first quarter on 5-of-5 shooting and 3-of-3 from 3-point range. He added six more points in the second quarter to make it 19 at halftime. In the fourth game, Wiggins had 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting.
Wiggins played the final seven minutes of the fourth quarter and scored seven big points. It wasn’t just that Wiggins hit three 3-pointers, but he also got his rotation working, was aggressive downhill and made all nine of his free throw attempts.
Where is the Help?
The first half was a three-man show for the Warriors. As Curry, Wiggins and Green scored 40 points and went 9-of-13 on 3-pointers, the rest of the Warriors combined for 22 points and were 1-of-9 from three.
From the beginning of the fourth quarter without Curry, Wiggins or Green, the bench was able to hold it and was plus-3 in the first five minutes. That’s a big win for the Warriors. Overall, though, the bench didn’t provide the punch they usually have.
Especially Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield.
Hield never shot from long range as often. During those minutes without Curry, he hit a big 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter, but went 2-of-7 on 3-pointers overall. Over the past three games, Hield has gone 7-of-22 (31.8 percent) from three.
However, Hield grabbed six rebounds and was plus-9 in 19 minutes. Kuminga was minus-1 in 20 minutes. Kuminga missed both of his 3-pointers and one of them was with 17 seconds left on the clock. He made two layups and a dunk, but missed anything that was more than a few feet from the basket.
Cold waters
Hield wasn’t the only sharpshooter to catch a cold in New Orleans. Lindy Waters went 3-pointer and didn’t score a point while starting alongside Curry in the Warriors backcourt. He played 15 minutes, the fewest of any starter, and was scoreless on 0-of-3 shooting — all 3-pointers.
Waters has shown that he is more than just a shooter. He had two assists Friday night, plays strong defense and his cutting opens up a lot of things. For how nice of a find Waters was from general manager Mike Dunleavy, the Warriors have a glaring hole.
De’Anthony Melton was a perfect fit next to Curry. Waters is a solid piece who has proven himself to be an NBA player. Wednesday’s win against the Atlanta Hawks was also his first double-digit scoring as a starter.
In five starts this season, Waters has totaled 27 points, averaging 5.4 points and making 35 percent (7-of-20) of his 3-pointers. Five games is of course a small sample. The rawness of Waters’ NBA experience has been apparent more often than not recently.
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