Andrew Wiggins' long-awaited return seemed to come at the perfect time for the Golden State Warriors.
Not only were the defending champions set to miss Steph Curry, Jonathan Kuminga, JaMychal Green and James Wiseman against the Orlando Magic, but Klay Thompson was a late scratch for Saturday's game due to experiencing left knee soreness during warmups.
Who better to help make up for that lack of offensive firepower and overall depth than a healthy Wiggins?
After missing his team's previous 15 games with a right adductor strain and subsequent illness, though, Wiggins was a shell of his regular self in the Warriors' 115-101 loss the Magic, finishing with 12 points, three rebounds and two assists on 4-of-12 shooting. His -22 in just 19 minutes was Golden State's worst plus-minus, too.
“It was. It was,” Wiggins responded after the game when asked if his initial return proved more challenging than he anticipated. “I just felt a little rusty out there, you know, trying to get my feet right, get back in rhythm. But I know it's gonna take a little time, just put in a little extra work and I'll be good.”
Curry could return by the end of this week. Kuminga, Green and Wiseman aren't expected to be out much longer. Thompson was only held out as a “precautionary” measure after averaging 36.4 minutes per game since Curry went down on December 14th.
Golden State, basically, won't need Wiggins to shoulder an outsized offensive burden for long. Good thing, too, because he clearly needs some more time to re-acclimate to the speed of the game after being sidelined for the longest stretch of his career.
“I just felt a little slow,” Wiggins said, “That's it. Just one step slow.”
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