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The growing power of the Curry-Wiggins shooting duo

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The growing power of the Curry-Wiggins shooting duo

Unanimous and Maple Jordan made it rain on Orlando last night.

Daniel Hardee
Dec 7, 2021
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The growing power of the Curry-Wiggins shooting duo

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I’m always intrigued by maxims like “there are no bad dogs, only bad owners” and “one rotten apple can spoil the whole bunch”. I’m eternally curious about the magical chemistry of relationships that can directly shape outcomes for better…or for worse.

The Golden State Warriors apparently have a pretty good handle on all that stuff. When Andrew Wiggins joined forces with Stephen Curry last night in San Francisco to commit basketball violence against the perpetually shipwrecked franchise that is the Orlando Magic, we witnessed more evidence that the Warriors provide an exceptionally encouraging environment that enhances their product in scary ways.

It was for sure scary with that 126-95 crushing in Chase Center.

A place for Wiggins to hoop

I don’t really have to go too deep here. You know how I felt about Wiggins back when critical observers were going over his flaws with a fine toothed comb…and in some cases a cheese grater.

What a difference a change of scenery can make. Here’s what folks are saying after Wiggins scored 28 last night on a career night from 3PT range (8-of-10):

Twitter avatar for @warriors
Golden State Warriors @warriors
👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌 Eight treys tonight for @22wiggins
6:10 AM ∙ Dec 7, 2021
3,570Likes380Retweets
Twitter avatar for @JoshEberley
Josh Eberley🇨🇦 @JoshEberley
Andrew Wiggins playing high level D while averaging 18 on career high efficiency.
2:25 PM ∙ Dec 6, 2021
48Likes3Retweets
Twitter avatar for @thecity2
Evan Zamir @thecity2
DARKO believes Wiggins shooting improvement is legit. (h/t @anpatt7 and @kmedved)
Image
6:07 PM ∙ Dec 7, 2021
23Likes8Retweets
Twitter avatar for @957thegame
95.7 The Game @957thegame
Andrew Wiggins: "In my career, this is the most open looks I've gotten."
6:24 AM ∙ Dec 7, 2021
2,955Likes156Retweets
Twitter avatar for @DubsFanJay
Jay💎 @DubsFanJay
Career high for 3s made in a single NBA game Andrew Wiggins - 8 Kevin Durant - 7 Do what you want with that
Image
Image
5:27 AM ∙ Dec 7, 2021
817Likes80Retweets
Twitter avatar for @KerithBurke
Kerith Burke @KerithBurke
Kerr: “It’s impossible not to like Andrew Wiggins. His teammates love him, he’s so coachable. He’s found a nice niche with this group of guys.”
5:41 AM ∙ Dec 7, 2021
1,594Likes74Retweets

(As an aside: Warriors GM Bob Myers was the guy who figured out how to turn the departing superweapon Kevin Durant into D’Angelo Russell, who he somehow flipped into Wiggins and the draft pick that became Jonathan Kuminga. Myers is a genius).

Twitter avatar for @JoeVirayNBA
Joe Viray @JoeVirayNBA
Andrew Wiggins is putting up the best shooting marks of his career, as well as having the most efficient scoring season of his career. 53.0% on twos (career high) 41.5% on threes (career high) 71.9% on free throws 56.5 eFG% (career high) 59.1% True Shooting (career high)
5:34 AM ∙ Dec 7, 2021
301Likes39Retweets

Wiggins’ hot night is just another piece of evidence that he’s a capable, efficient scorer who is only growing in the Warriors’ system. And if I say “the system”, you know I’m gonna talk about Steph Curry next, the guy helping Wiggins get the most floorspacing he’s seen in his life.

Curry shapes the environment

Earlier I referenced max contract high draft picks who aren’t able to lift their teams to championship levels, and here’s where we have to be grateful for Curry. He became a two-time MVP for the team that drafted him, despite the franchise being in shambles upon his arrival. The Warriors being terrible didn’t stop Curry from evolving into a star; he weathered the storm until he became a player who could lead them to better days.

Last night he poured in 31 points and 8 assists. There was one particular sequence that so typefied the player he is that I have to share it.

Twitter avatar for @WorldWideWob
Rob Perez @WorldWideWob
how to make up for a mistake, brought to you by Steph Curry:
3:38 AM ∙ Dec 7, 2021
78,088Likes10,257Retweets
Twitter avatar for @warriors
Golden State Warriors @warriors
Poetry in motion. @Invisalign || #BigShot
7:10 AM ∙ Dec 7, 2021
3,577Likes450Retweets

That is completely demoralizing. Look how Gary Harris just holds his hands on his hips after and stares at Curry like “you’re an alien”.

Twitter avatar for @antonin_org
Antonin @antonin_org
Stephen Curry will need to make 16 threes on Wednesday vs Portland to break the all time 3pt record. That sounds impossible. But it's Steph, and it's against Portland.
5:10 AM ∙ Dec 7, 2021
5,600Likes446Retweets
Twitter avatar for @GoIdenState
Optimistic Warriors Fan @GoIdenState
Can y’all imagine if Steph makes 16 threes against Portland on Wednesday and breaks 2 records in one game 💀💀💀
5:20 AM ∙ Dec 7, 2021
2,650Likes216Retweets

Just waiting for Klay…

One thing that cracked me up about the social media frenzy around Wiggins’ career shooting night and the hushed awe about his 41% shooting from deep, is how those were things we EXPECTED from Klay Thompson. Wiggins’ stat line last night would be pretty great but not mind blowing for the caliber of player Klay became.

If you checked a Warriors box score from three years ago and saw Klay had splashed 8 triples, you’d probably quietly nod and think “not bad”. We’ve seen him do that 13 times already:

The world has never seen a Curry-Wiggins-Thompson lineup; but they’d better put out their umbrellas and raincoats because the winter splash is coming.

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The growing power of the Curry-Wiggins shooting duo

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145 Comments
Qin
Dec 8, 2021

Holy Crap this is not good at all.

12/07/2021, 5:27 PM

CJ McCollum: Has collapsed right lung

McCollum has a collapsed right lung and needs to undergo further evaluation, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports.

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4 replies
Freddie
Dec 8, 2021

I think KD is playing too much. It's december, there are 5-6 months to go and he will be 34 next year

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