Andrew Wiggins catches fire and leads Warriors in 120-101 rout of Rockets

Dec 4, 2022 - 4:07 AM

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The Golden State Warriors avoided an enraging loss to the Houston Rockets on Saturday thanks to a scorching hot night from three. Led by Andrew Wiggins, who scored 36 points on 14-for-19 shooting from the field (8-for-10 from three), the Warriors made 25 of their 52 (48.1%) shot attempts from three and defeated the Rockets 120-101.

On the second half of a back-to-back, the Warriors rested Klay Thompson but played the rest of the team’s veteran starters. Jordan Poole slotted into Thompson’s place in the starting lineup and the offense did not miss a beat. Poole has been escaping his early-season slump recently, and that trend continued playing with the starters. He finished with 21 points (8-for-14 from the field) in 27 minutes and had the team’s second-best plus/minus (+25).

The Rockets were on the second half of a back-to-back as well, and had to travel from Phoenix to the Bay Area in the past 24 hours. Already a bad defensive team, Houston had an uphill battle. Inconsistent defense left the Warriors open all game long and Golden State consistently took advantage. The Warriors never trailed and led 39-23 by the end of the first quarter.

An 18-3 Rockets run while Steph Curry was on the bench at the start of the second quarter cut the Dubs lead to 10, but Houston did not approach overtaking the Warriors. Wiggins had 17 points in the first half on 7-for-8 shooting from the field, and all seemed perfect in Warriors land.

Then Alperen Sengun came down on Curry’s foot trying to block a shot and Steph was favoring his ankle. Everyone at the Chase Center collectively held their breath during a timeout and exhaled a sigh of relief when he returned to the floor. Curry would knock down a stepback three at the end of the first half to give the Dubs a 68-52 lead.

Wiggins doubled his point total in the third quarter and almost singlehandedly kept the Rockets from taking advantage of several Golden State turnovers and fouls. The Warriors led 94-80 heading into the fourth.

A Rockets 9-0 run early in the fourth quarter brougght them within six points and the Dubs were trying to avoid a catastrophic loss. Moses Moody hit a big corner three to end a Warriors scoring drought and Golden State buckled down defensively. The Rockets scored just two points between the 6:59 mark in the fourth quarter and the 1:15 mark. Over that 5+ minute span, the Warriors lead ballooned back to double digits thanks to a pair of threes from Curry and a deep two from Wiggins.

Wiggins unsurprisingly had a game-high +34 plus/minus alongside his 36 points and 5 rebounds. Curry quietly scored 30 points of his own alongside 10 assists. Kevon Looney added 9 points and 12 rebounds while Draymond Green finished with 3 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, a steal, and a block. Moody amassed 11 points off the bench.

Poole had an ankle scare of his own in the second half, but like Curry, was able to return to the game. Still, the Warriors will only have one day off to recover before they are back in action on Monday against the Pacers. Opening tip at the Chase Center is scheduled for 7:00 PM Pacific.