In the Warriors' last game before Klay Thompson returned to the lineup, Andrew Wiggins took 17 shots and scored 21 points, both above his season averages. But in Klay's first game back on Jan. 9, things changed for the first-time NBA All-Star.
Wiggins took just nine shots and finished with 10 points in the Warriors' emotional win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Jan. 9, Thompson's first game in 941 days. It was only natural that Klay would be amped up that night and be a little overzealous with his shots. He took 18 shots in 20 minutes.
Since that game, the numbers have leveled out for Wiggins and Thompson, and making sure the former doesn't take a backseat to the latter has been a point of emphasis for the Warriors over the last month.
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While talking to the media Thursday, injured forward Andre Iguodala touched on the message the Warriors have been giving Wiggins.
"Klay's got this very big ... aura about him when he's on the court and he just finds a way to make his presence felt," Iguodala told reporters. "And Wiggs is a little more shy. So we had to remind Wiggs we still need you to go out and be on attack. And he's done a great job of doing that."
Since that game on Jan. 9, Wiggins is averaging 16.5 points on 13.3 field goal attempts in 13 games. On the season, he's averaging 18.2 points on 14.1 shots per game. So Thompson's return hasn't hurt Wiggins' production that much.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr spoke to reporters Saturday after practice and he mentioned that he's been in Wiggins' ear well before Thompson returned.
Golden State Warriors
"I think a lot of us told him that," Kerr said. "I told him that when we scrimmaged in Denver, when we had that game postponed and we had our first scrimmage with Klay. That was the first thing I told Andrew. I said 'Don't defer to Klay because Klay is going to find his own shot. You don't ever have to worry about Klay, but we need your aggressiveness to be good.' And I know Steph and Andre have reiterated that message to Andrew.
"I thought there were maybe two games early on when Klay came back where Andrew was trying to figure it out a little bit and it didn't take long. He's been great ever since and I really love the combination of Andrew, Steph and Klay as starters. There's plenty of shots to go around and the more aggressive Andrew is, the better team we are."
The Warriors were supposed to play the Nuggets on the road on Dec. 30, but due to COVID-19-related issues and injuries, Denver didn't have enough available players, forcing the NBA to postpone the game until March 7.
With no game to play and an empty arena at their disposal, the Warriors decided to get in a short scrimmage involving Thompson for the first time. That also was Wiggins' first chance to play with Klay.
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Their first game together was a feeling-out process and they have found a good flow the last few weeks, helping the Warriors win eight straight games.
While Thompson was rehabbing his surgically repaired right Achilles, everyone associated with the Warriors reiterated that they couldn't wait to see him play with Wiggins. The wrinkles have been ironed out and the team is thriving with both players excelling.