Wiggins’ benching serves as spark for Warriors forward vs. Blazers

Wiggins’ benching serves as spark for Warriors forward vs. Blazers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Steve Kerr’s hopes of getting a spark out of Andrew Wiggins by removing him from the starting rotation and giving him a bench role is working out pretty well so far for both Wiggins and the Warriors.

On a night when Stephen Curry’s shot was off and his NBA record for consecutive games with a made 3-pointer ended, Wiggins provided a huge boost for the Warriors in a 118-114 win over the pesky Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night at Moda Center.

Wiggins’ stat line in the victory was definitely noteworthy: 25 points on 9-of-12 shooting with four 3-pointers, seven rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block during his 29:20 minutes on the court, his most extensive playing time since getting benched.

“That’s vintage Andrew,” Kerr told reporters following the game. “That looks like the guy I know. He was aggressive. Confident. Took the shots that were there, attacked, made some good passes. I thought Andrew was just absolutely brilliant.”

It was the most scoring Golden State has gotten from Wiggins since he scored 29 and snagged 10 boards against the Sacramento Kings on Nov. 28.

Wiggins punctuated his big night by slamming home a dunk off an alley-oop pass from Curry to put the Warriors up 113-106 with under two minutes remaining.

“I thought I played well,” Wiggins said. “I got after it on the boards, defensively I felt I was locked in and stayed aggressive on the offensive end. It was an OK game.”

The way Wiggins had been playing before heading to the bench two games prior to Sunday, his game in Portland was far better than just OK. He had scored a total of 24 points as a starter in consecutive games against the Blazers, Oklahoma City Thunder and Phoenix Suns before Kerr altered his lineup and replaced Wiggins with rookie Brandin Podziemski.

As a reserve, Wiggins had nine points in 22 minutes in a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers last Thursday then had 14 in 26 1/2 minutes against the Nets on Saturday before his breakout game in the rematch with Portland.

Wiggins said the last time he didn’t start was in a rec league game when he was in the sixth grade.

“It was like one season,” Wiggins said as he cracked a grin. “The next season I was starting.”

On the bench for more than nine minutes to begin the game Sunday while Podziemski was in with the starters, Wiggins made an immediate impact once he checked in when he drove around a Portland defender in the key for a layup on his first shot of the night.

Wiggins frequently and aggressively attacked the hoop much of the night and was very confident shooting from the perimeter, where he was extremely calm and smooth with each shot.

He came through late after missing a pair of open looks beyond the arc late in the fourth quarter when the Blazers made their run and got close, then sank a clutch corner 3 that moved the Warriors lead to 107-96.

Afterward, Wiggins acknowledged he was surprised by the benching but didn’t seem too bothered by the move.

“It’s different, different for sure,” Wiggins said. “It’s another thing I have to deal with. Whatever happens happens. Of course I want to get back to my normal spot. But it could take time, who knows? I can’t really dwell on something that’s a decision made by somebody [else]. I just have to keep playing, keep staying aggressive, stay in the gym and just try to do the right things.

“Anything can happen in this league. I’m blessed to be here and if I want to get out of this little doghouse I just have to keep fighting my way out.”

Before the game, Kerr said it was too small a sample size to say that moving Wiggins to the bench would be permanent.

“Sometimes a jolt can be a good thing for a player so I’m hoping that the jolt of being removed from the starting lineup and out on the bench in a reserve role will jump-start him and get him back to playing the way we know he can play,” Kerr said.

So far, so good.