The Warriors allowed the Wizards to shoot 60.8% from the field and still won.
Golden State absorbed a first-quarter haymaker from Washington and responded to hang on for a 135-126 win. Both teams shrugged off less-than playoff level defense, and Golden State made half of its 3-pointers to overcome an early 15-point deficit.
Andrew Wiggins provided a team-high 29 points and the Warriors’ bench made a major impact in a victory that brings the Warriors (29-28) back over .500. Kristaps Porzingis got Draymond Green into foul trouble, but Kevon Looney’s double-double gave the Warriors enough inside.
Here are three takeaways from the win.
A much-needed Andrew Wiggins game
Andrew Wiggins entered Monday averaging 16.8 points per game. That’s the lowest mark of his career, and even more damaging given scoring league-wide is skyrocketing.
The Warriors didn’t sign Wiggins to a $109 million extension for him to produce like that. But Wiggins’ season has featured the longest absence of his career, an abdomen injury and multiple non-COVID illnesses. He’s still shooting 39.3% from deep and 46.9% overall — on par with his All-Star efficiency from last year.
Wiggins, who was questionable with a tweaked ankle on Monday, gutted through pain and put together one of his finest games of the season. Since returning to the lineup, Wiggins had only recorded 20 points once — on Jan. 19 — before the Wizards matchup.
Wiggins went at Kristaps Porzingis several times, initiating contact into the center’s chest and finishing. He also gave the Warriors an option in the post and as a face-up threat. His fadeaway with 1:42 left in the game put the Warriors up nine, which proved to be enough of a cushion.
The former first overall pick dropped 29 points on 13-for-23 shooting while hitting three of his six triples. He was aggressive all night and deservingly became the focal point for GSW’s late-game offense.
The Warriors, and Wiggins personally, needed a night like this.
Draymond Green’s do what I say, not as I do
Eighty-seven seconds into the game, Draymond Green picked up a technical foul.
It was Green’s 15th of the season, the most in the NBA. The whistle came two nights after he offered his advice to Jordan Poole, telling reporters that he doesn’t want the young guard to “walk the line” of conversing with referees. “Don’t talk to them,” Green said. “That’s my advice. Don’t talk to them. I’ve told him that. You don’t want to get into that battle, you can not win it. Once you get too deep in it, take it from me, you can’t get out. Go the other way is what my advice has been, will be moving forward. It is today, it will be tomorrow. It’s a battle you can’t win, so just go the other way.”
There was a lot of line-walking on Monday night, with Steve Kerr and Kristaps Porzingis also picking up techs.
But Green’s is the big one. The forward is now one technical away from a one-game suspension. With 25 games left in a tight race to the Western playoffs, every game is crucial. Golden State can’t afford to lose him.
Green can preach avoiding “the line,” but he’s tightroped it more than anyone for years, and it’s almost certainly going to cost the Warriors.
On Monday, Green got in his own way. His technical forebode probably his worst game of the season, a foul-marred four-point, six-assists, no-rebound performance.
Bench production
The Warriors fell behind by 15 in the first quarter. Draymond Green picked up two quick fouls, then a third early in the second quarter on an ill-advised reach in. Jordan Poole couldn’t find his shot and also got whistled for three fouls.
Then, the Warriors’ bench picked up the slack.
Golden State’s much-maligned reserves keyed a 10-1 run in the second quarter and ignited the comeback that allowed the Warriors to head into halftime with a lead.
Ty Jerome’s floater — a true weapon for the backup point guard — with 2:48 left in the first half gave Golden State its first lead since the opening minutes. His aggression getting into the paint opened up opportunities for him and teammates.
Donte DiVincenzo continued his terrific play, drilling three of his first five 3-pointers — including a buzzer-beater in the first and a silencer with under a minute left in the agme — and finishing with 17 points.
Jonathan Kuminga traveled on a play he should’ve made the simple extra pass and also lost a cutter on the baseline, but he contributed offensively by canning the open shots Washington gave him. He recorded seven points, two assists and two steals in 13 minutes.
Even Moses Moody, invisible for most of this season, brought some energy defensively in his eight minutes.
And in the third quarter, Jerome, DiVincenzo, Kuminga and JaMychal Green spearheaded another game-breaking, 15-2 run. They were the difference.
Overall, the Warriors’ bench scored 48 points compared to 38 from Washington’s backups. DiVincenzo, Kuminga, Jerome and Green shot 18-for-24 (75%) from the field.
