What we learned when Wiggins powered Warriors’ NBA Cup win over Pelicans originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

BOX SCORE

The field was the color of a dazzling blue, the New Orleans Pelicans were without several top players and the Warriors had to fight until the final seconds to win 112-108 on Friday night at Smoothie King Center on the first night. of a back to back.

The Pelicans entered the night as losers in 12 of their previous 14 games.

Andrew Wiggins’ season-high 30 points led the Warriors and led both teams. Steph Curry scored 19 points, grabbed seven rebounds and handed out seven assists, while Draymond Green also filled the stats with 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

Golden State improved to 3-0 in the NBA Cup and is now 56-7 all-time when Green makes three or more three-pointers. The Warriors are also 5-2 in clutch games this season, with both losses coming to the LA Clippers.

Here are three takeaways from the Warriors’ win against the Pelicans.

Wiggins is on fire

Wiggins scored 20 points in the season opener and then 29 in the Warriors’ third game, giving him two 20-point performances in the first three games of the year. He then played seven games in a row without reaching 20 points.

After his 30-point game Friday night in New Orleans, Wiggins has scored at least 20 points in three straight games, scoring 22 and 27 in his previous two.

His start shooting the ball was literally perfect. Wiggins scored 13 points in eight minutes in the first quarter on 5-of-5 shooting and 3-of-3 from 3-point range. He added six more points in the second quarter, giving him 19 points at halftime. Entering the fourth, Wiggins had 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting.

Wiggins played the final seven minutes of the fourth quarter and scored seven big points. It wasn’t just the fact that Wiggins made three 3-pointers, but he also got his spin moving, was aggressive downhill and made all nine of his free throw attempts.

Where’s the help?

The first half was a three-man show for the Warriors. While Curry, Wiggins and Green combined to score 40 points and shoot 9-of-13 from threes, the rest of the Warriors totaled 22 points and were 1-of-9 from three.

From the fourth quarter without Curry, Wiggins or Green, the bench was able to keep it under control and was a plus-3 in the first five minutes. That’s a big win for the Warriors. But overall, the bench didn’t deliver the punch they normally deliver.

Especially Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield.

Hield never got as excited about long distances as he often does. He did hit a big three during those non-Curry minutes to start the fourth quarter, but overall he went 2-of-7 on threes. Over his last three games, Hield has gone 7 of 22 (31.8 percent) from three.

However, Hield did grab six rebounds and was a plus-9 in 19 minutes. Kuminga was at minus-1 in 20 minutes. Kuminga missed both of his threes, including one with 17 seconds left on the shot clock. He made two layups and a dunk, but missed anything more than a few feet from the basket.

Cold waters

Hield wasn’t the only sniper who went cold in New Orleans. Lindy Waters nailed a three and didn’t score a single point when she started next to Curry in the Warriors’ backcourt. He played 15 minutes, the fewest of any starter, and was scoreless on 0-for-3 shooting — all three-pointers.

Waters has shown that he is more than just a shooter. He had two assists on Friday night, plays strong defense and his cutting opens up a lot of things. As nice as the find of Waters was by general manager Mike Dunleavy, the Warriors have a glaring hole.

De’Anthony Melton was a perfect fit next to Curry. Waters is a solid player who has proven himself as an NBA player. Wednesday night’s win against the Atlanta Hawks also marked his first time scoring in double figures as a starter.

In five starts this season, Waters has now totaled 27 points, averaging 5.4 points and making 35 percent (7-of-20) of his threes. Five games is obviously a small sample size. The rawness of Waters’ NBA experience has also become apparent more often than not lately.

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