Stephen Curry, obviously, won't be suiting up for the Golden State Warriors' only trip to Madison Square Garden this season. Coming off their most complete road win of the season, though, at least there was a chance Andrew Wiggins would return to the Warriors for Tuesday's game against the New York Knicks.
Unfortunately, it turns out the defending champions will have to keep their fingers crossed Wiggins is available for just the second leg of their tough back-to-back in the Tri-State area.
Wiggins won't play against the Knicks on Tuesday, listed as out on Golden State's official injury report.
He's been sidelined since a December 3rd win over the Chicago Bulls in which Wiggins continued playing the best basketball of his career, dropping 36 points and eight made triples on just 19 total field goal attempts. The Warriors have gone just 2-5 in his absence, playing three of those games without Curry—including Sunday's rousing blowout victory over the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena.
Jordan Poole and the short-handed Warriors earned one of their most complete wins of the season in Toronto. (via @armstrongwinter)https://t.co/UsDu1W6lt8
— Warriors Nation (@WarriorNationCP) December 19, 2022
The Knicks, sixth-place in the Eastern Conference at 17-13, are one of the hottest teams in the NBA, entering Tuesday's contest on a seven-game winning streak. The Warriors beat them 111-101 at Chase Center in mid-November, the last time impactful sophomore wing Quentin Grimes came off the bench.
Golden State won't have it any easier 24 hours later just outside Manhattan, even if Wiggins' status changes in time to tangle with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. The Brooklyn Nets are surging just like their New York City counterparts, winners of six straight games to get all the way up to fourth in the East.
Steve Kerr said on Saturday there was “an outside chance” Wiggins plays in one of the Warriors' games against the Knicks or Nets, stressing they were wary of him re-aggravating the injury after he only just resumed basketball activities this week.
“With a groin, if you re-aggravate it, now you’re talking weeks, and so we’re going to be cautious,” Kerr told reporters. “And unless we feel great about it, [he] probably wouldn’t play until we get home.”
Golden State's first game back at Chase Center following a long Eastern Conference road trip? On Christmas against the rival Memphis Grizzlies.
Barring a setback, expect Wiggins to return for that highly anticipated matchup, giving the the Warriors some much-needed perimeter defense, scoring punch and all-around athleticism for a battle with the team currently at the top of the Western Conference.
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