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The Golden State Warriors got a much-needed win against the Minnesota Timberwolves Friday night. Although Steph Curry was not in the lineup, someone else on the roster was able to put up a Curry-like stat line, and that was Andrew Wiggins. Dropping 40 points in the Warriors’ 116-103 win over Minnesota, Wiggins responds to dropping a career-high without the Warriors’ All-Star.
Wiggins Reacts to His Production
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In his first full year with the team, Wiggins has done a great job assisting the team offensively. Before Friday night’s game, Wiggins’ career high was 28 points against the Utah Jazz just last week. Minus Curry, Wiggins knew that the team would rely on him to step up, according to his postgame press conference.
“Steph is a big part of this team. He’s what makes the team go. It’s Steph, you know, with him being out, everybody had to step up. I just tried to be aggressive from the start,” Wiggins said when speaking of not having Curry play.
The Warriors were able to come out with the win even without Curry in the lineup. Assistance from Jordan Poole, who dropped 25 points, and a 21 performance from Damion Lee off the bench proved to be enough to beat the Timberwolves. This was the second time this season that three players in the Warriors’ lineup scored over 20 points in a single matchup, and the first time that it was without Curry.
The Warriors are facing off again against the Timberwolves on Saturday in the hopes of sweeping their back-to-back games against Ja Morant and company. Although the Warriors came out victorious the first game, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Timberwolves gave them a harder game on Saturday night. Even head coach Steve Kerr said that star forward Draymond Green warned the team that they better bring it in this second matchup.
Moving Forward
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This game in particular was a prime example of Andrew Wiggins’ talent. Poole and Lee also did a great job assisting in a much-needed win. The Warriors currently sit at 22-20, and without Curry, it’s important that the rest of the team steps up like they did Friday night. The team is now 9th in a stacked Western Conference and are three and a half games away from the 6th seed, which is where they want to be.
Curry did not play in Friday night’s game due to a tailbone contusion that he suffered on Wednesday night in a matchup against the Houston Rockets. It is almost certain that he will not play again in Saturday night’s matchup as Kerr describes it as “irresponsible” to play the star guard.
Saturday night’s game is the Warriors’ final game of the team’s road trip as they will return to the Bay Area to play against the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday. The Warriors hope to win the majority of the rest of their games as they still fight for a spot in the playoffs for the Western Conference.
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Warriors’ Andrew Wiggins Reacts to 40-Point Game Minus Steph Curry