What we learned when Wiggins fueled Warriors’ rebound win originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
BOX SCORE
SAN FRANCISCO – Stephen Curry had 23 points and eight assists as the Warriors won their fifth straight home game, beating the Atlanta Hawks 120-97 at Chase Center on Wednesday.
Andrew Wiggins scored 27 points to go with seven rebounds as Golden State bounced back from a heartbreaking loss to the Los Angeles Clippers two days earlier. Trayce Jackson-Davis added 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Draymond Green had another gumbo night of everything (nine points, seven rebounds, nine assists, 1 steal, two blocks) for coach Steve Kerr’s team.
The Western Conference-leading Warriors improved to 11-3 and will face three teams to beat in the coming days. After road games against the New Orleans Pelicans and San Antonio Spurs, Golden State returns home Monday to play the Brooklyn Nets before taking on conference contenders Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets, followed by back-to-back back games against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Chase Center.
At one point, that seemed like a difficult task for the Warriors. Now it appears Golden State will simply get another chance to add to what is already a promising season.
Golden State certainly showed up in top form against Atlanta, despite learning earlier in the day that guard De’Anthony Melton will undergo season-ending knee surgery.
Even without Melton, the Warriors had a pretty easy time against the Hawks.
Golden State led with 31 men, had one of the best shooting nights of the season (47 of 100) and handed out 36 assists.
About the only thing that went wrong was when sophomore guard Brandin Podziemski — who wore a protective mask earlier this season after suffering a broken nose — was hit in the face early in the fourth quarter and lay there for several moments before walking away. the court slowly. Kerr said X-rays of the injury came back negative after the game.
The Warriors got off to a fast start, trailing the Hawks by as many as 41 points in the first quarter. Buddy Hield had eight points during the opening wave, but of course it was Curry who provided the signature moment when he made a basket while falling to the ground and was fouled before completing the three-point play.
Golden State took a 67-42 lead into halftime and maintained the 15-point lead heading into the fourth quarter before cruising to victory.
These are the conclusions from Wednesday’s match:
Waters gets the first crack at splashing
Liked what he had seen from Lindy Waters III in recent weeks, Kerr gave the fourth-year pro his first opportunity to replace Melton in the starting lineup. Waters, who has been solid off the bench and in a starting role during the 2024 season, scored 10 points and was plus-16 in 23 minutes
Waters scored the first points of the night for the Warriors on a nice baseline floater, then spent most of his first shift defending Hawks point guard Trae Young. Young made just one shot in the first quarter en route to a 4-of-12 shooting night.
All that should be enough to keep Waters in the lineup, although Kerr said before the game that Podziemski could also factor into the equation.
Melton finally found his rhythm with Golden State on both ends when he got hurt, so his absence will be difficult to overcome no matter who Kerr turns to.
Rebounding night for bench
The Warriors have the best reserves in the NBA and, after a bad night against the Clippers two nights earlier, Golden State’s bench posse was back on point in the win over the Hawks.
Boosted by the combination of Wiggins and Jonathan Kuminga, the Warriors’ bench defeated the Hawks 37-36. The way Golden State’s starters scored meant the bench didn’t play as big a role as before, but it was still encouraging to see them do what they do best.
At this rate, it’s entirely possible that the Warriors will challenge for the title of best bench of all time. The 2018-19 Los Angeles Clippers hold the NBA record for highest bench average with 53.2 points per game. Golden State entered Wednesday’s game with an NBA-leading average of 56.4 points.
Do it with defense
Although the Warriors are known for their offensive fireworks, they appear to be a very good team defensively – a point that was made emphatically against the Hawks.
Atlanta remained 19 points below its season average of 116, shooting just 35 of 105 from the field (12 of 46 three-pointers) and committing 17 turnovers that led to 22 points for Golden State.
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