Why Andrew Wiggins is key to the Warriors’ continued ownership of the Rockets – NBC Sports Bay Area & California

HOUSTON – Shortly before Warriors coach Steve Kerr spoke to reporters after practice at the Houston Rockets’ home court, the injury report showed that Moses Moody was out of Wednesday night’s NBA Cup quarterfinal game with a left patella tendon problem and Andrew Wiggins was out with an impingement of the right ankle is questionable.

Kerr was obviously aware of the former, but missed the latter. For Kerr, Wiggins is well-suited to start against the Rockets barring any unforeseen setbacks.

“Andrew is ready to go,” Kerr said. “Had a full training session today, he looked good.”

Wiggins missed the Warriors’ 114-106 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday because of the same ankle problem, an issue that has bothered him for some time. Wiggins said it’s the inside of his ankle that bothers him the most, but he also has pain on the outside.

Overall, though, it’s nothing he can’t play through.

“Everything is fine,” says Wiggins. “It’s better than the other day.”

Wiggins first experienced right ankle problems in the Warriors’ win over the Phoenix Suns on November 30th and played through a few days later in the loss to the Denver Nuggets on December 3rd. Kerr admitted after the Warriors’ win over the Denver Nuggets. Two days later, on Dec. 5, Rockets said that Wiggins probably shouldn’t have played at all because his ankle was bothering him so much.

But the Warriors were already without Steph Curry and Draymond Green in the contest, making Wiggins’ availability even more important. He was one of the main reasons the Warriors were able to outlast the Rockets that night.

Jonathan Kuminga’s career-high 33 points was the story of the Warriors beating the Rockets last week for the second time this season, although Wiggins wasn’t too far behind. Wiggins scored 23 points on extremely efficient 8-of-15 shooting, second only to Kuminga, and was 3 of 4 on 3-pointers. He also grabbed seven rebounds, including four in the fourth quarter.

The first time the Warriors played the Rockets, they nearly blew a 31-point lead and needed overtime for a six-point win. Wiggins scored 15 points on just 3 of 9 shooting in the win, seven of which came from the free throw line.

“They’re very active defensively,” Wiggins said. “A young team, they have a lot of people who can get going. We’ve played them a few times, played them pretty well. We haven’t played them with a full team yet this year, so it should be fun.”

His scoring prowess is only part of his importance for the Warriors. As Wiggins said, the Rockets have several players who can heat up quickly – Jalen Green is one of them.

So far, Wiggins has given Green whiplash as he has seen his shots clatter, rarely getting going and finding his pace offensively. With Wiggins as the primary defender protecting him, Green scored a total of 21 points in two games against the Warriors, dropping seven points in the first game and 14 points in the second.

The former No. 2 overall draft pick averaged 10.5 points on 20.7 percent shooting (6 of 29) and 11.1 percent on 3-pointers (1 of 9) against the Warriors this season. Against all other teams, Green averaged 20.2 points in the 22 other games he played this season.

Specifically, Wiggins guarded Green for 11 1/2 minutes, allowing the young shooting guard to score seven points on 2-of-8 shooting. Wiggins had his shot blocked once and Green only made one three-pointer on him.

Golden State has defeated Houston in 15 straight games between these former bitter Western Conference rivals. A full roster with a healthy Wiggins, who can haunt Green and the Rockets defensively and be a reliable threat offensively, gives the Warriors a much better chance of making it 16th in a row.

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