Chris Paul and Gary Payton II will remain out for the Golden State Warriors on Saturday against the Los Angeles Clippers. Just 48 hours after slamming the index finger on his shooting hand in a car door, though, Andrew Wiggins could be back on the floor at Crypto.com Arena after missing the first of his team's two-game set with LA.
Wiggins is officially listed as questionable to play in the Warriors' rematch versus the Clippers with right finger soreness. He was a surprise scratch from Golden State's impressive win over Los Angeles on Thursday night, joining the injured Paul and Payton on the sidelines after Steve Kerr shed light on the mechanics of his injury before the game.
“He slammed a car door on it this morning,” Kerr said of Wiggins. “He went through shootaround and I knew as soon as I saw him try to shoot. It's his index finger, so he could barely shoot and couldn't put much pressure on it, so I figured he'd be out. Just a tough blow for him and for us.”
How Warriors beat Clippers without Andrew Wiggins
Golden State's win over LA at Chase Center on Thursday was one of the most encouraging performances of its unnerving start to 2023-24. Down Wiggins and Payton, their top two on-ball defenders, not to mention a communicator like Paul, it was easy to assume the Dubs would struggle containing Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, James Harden and Russell Westbrook.
Defense indeed wasn't the driving force behind the Warriors' shorthanded win. LA put up a 121.3 offensive rating, just a hair below the Indiana Pacers' league-leading mark. Leonard was the Clippers' only future Hall-of-Famer who made more than half his shots, though. George scored 15 points on 18 field goal attempts, Westbrook was nearly as inefficient and Harden only managed one basket from inside the arc.
Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, especially, fared well guarding Leonard, forcing him into contested shots from the perimeter. But it was Golden State's offense that led the way on Thursday, a promising sign after the team's epic second-half and late-game collapse two days earlier against the Sacramento Kings.
The Warriors turned the ball over just seven times and took 31 free throws, seven more than the Clippers. Curry fought through persistent traps and double-teams en route to 26 points and eight assists, while Thompson shook off early struggles to explode for 10 of his 22 points over a game-changing 90-second span early in the fourth quarter. The Dubs' bench loomed largest to their relative offensive onslaught, however, with Jonathan Kuminga—who played perhaps his best game of the season— Brandin Podziemski and Dario Saric combining for 47 points.
Golden State probably can't count on that level of production from its bench on Saturday. Fortunately, the Warriors may not need it to beat the Clippers for the second time in three days if Wiggins plays and picks up where he left off in that dispiriting loss to the Kings. He dropped 29 points and 10 rebounds in Sacramento, playing with more confidence and two-way force than he has at any point during a rough first few weeks of the regular season.
Will Golden State get that version of Wiggins on Saturday? That sore index finger could prevent him from reaching those heights even if he's healthy enough to play. Either way, at least the Warriors already know they can beat the star-studded Clips absent not only Wiggins, but two of their other top six or seven players.
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