Big Wiggins night leads Warriors to 3-0 NBA Cup record

The shorthanded New Orleans Pelicans put up a fight, but Andrew Wiggins put up 30 points to help the Warriors survive a trap game in the Big Easy

It wouldn’t have been a surprise to see Josh Hartnett in the crowd Friday night at the Smoothie King Arena, or an extended performance from M. Night Shyamalan’s daughter, because the NBA Cup game between the Golden State Warriors and the New Orleans Pelicans was a Trap.

Playing on the road against a Pelicans team missing four of its top six players, the Warriors weren’t able to pull away late, and almost blew an eight-point lead in the final minutes thanks to a three turnovers and four missed free throws. But Trey Murphy III missed a potential game-winner and Draymond Green secured some big rebounds late as the Warriors escaped, like The Butcher slipping out of a Lady Raven concert. It was a 112-108 win the Warriors probably didn’t deserve, but would certainly take.

Andrew Wiggins led the Warriors with 30 points in a game that took the Warriors to 3-0 in NBA Cup play, though they showed their continued disregard for the in-season tournament’s point differential tiebreaker by blowing a lead late, just like they did against the Memphis Grizzlies. He was relentless in going to the hoop, and when he got fouled, he shot a perfect 9-for-9 from the line.

Steph Curry had 19 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists in a game where Pelicans head coach Willie Green, a former Golden State assistant, had his players committing to getting the ball out of Curry’s hands. The downside was the ball went out of his hands twice in the final two minutes, two turnovers that turned a comfortable win into a nail-biter down the stretch.

Draymond Green also had a late turnover that gave New Orleans new life, plus four missed free throws in the last minute. But he secured the rebound after Murphy’s late miss, and after his own missed free throw left the Warriors up just three points in the final second. Both Green and Curry finished with four turnovers, half of them coming in the final 2:22.

New Orleans got a big game from Trey Murphy III, who scored 24 points and made five three-pointers. They also got unexpected scoring from Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Brandon Boston, who had 19 and 16 points respectively, off the bench.

The Pelicans had a few injuries Friday night, which is like saying that Joe Lacob has read Atlas Shrugged a few times. New Orleans played without Dejounte Murray (broken hand), Zion Williamson (hamstring strain), C.J. McCollum (adductor strain), Herb Jones (shoulder strain), and Jose “Grand Theft” Alvarado (hamstring strain). So, just four of their top six players and their backup point guard, which is why Elfrid Payton was starting his second straight game after being out of the NBA for two years.

Leading into a first quarter timeout, Bob Fitzgerald asked, “Who has the deeper roster?” and the answer to that question is, “The one that isn’t starting Elfrid Payton in 2024.”

But the remaining Pelicans came out hot, especially Trey Murphy III, who scored 10 points in the quarter and made his first five shots from the field.

The same was true for Wiggins, who scored 13 points in the game’s first six minutes.

He got help from Curry, who showed off his throwing arm with a long dime to Wiggins. With Brock Purdy out for Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers and the Warriors looking at an off day Sunday, the San Francisco 49ers might reach out to Curry for help. Do they have direct flights from San Antonio to Green Bay?

Curry had four dimes in the opening period, dealing with the Pelicans sending two defenders at him by finding his teammates. And by bombing three-pointers from deep before the defense could come out on him.

While the Warriors’ bench should have had an advantage over the shorthanded Pelicans, that wasn’t the case to start the second quarter. Kyle Anderson missed an and-one that could have given Golden State a nine-point lead, and it may have put him in a spiral. New Orleans responded with a 13-0 run, helped by three turnovers from Anders and four missed threes. The run was stopped by noted three-point specialist Draymond Green, who made his first three shots from behind the arc.

But the Warriors trailed at halftime thanks to the bench scoring from Boston and Robinson-Earl, who each had 10 first-half points. Boston did it all, besides shooting threes, ading three assists, a steal, and a block. JRE did his damage inside with layups, including two putbacks off offensive boards. He beat the buzzer with a putback of a Payton miss to end the first half and give New Orleans a 63-62 halftime lead.

Jonathan Kuminga scored only seven points, as his jumper simply wasn’t falling. But he got the Warriors a lead at the end of the third quarter with a driving layup and a very nice pass to Kevon Looney (7 rebounds in 14 minutes). He also threw a touchdown pass that led to a Buddy Hield three.

Don’t be surprised if there’s a change in the starting lineup soon. Lindy Waters III was scoreless in his 15 minutes, missing all of his three-pointers. Meanwhile, Hield scored 12 points, and Moses Moody played gritty defense in his 20 minutes of work.

But as sloppy as the final minutes were, this is the kind of game the Warriors usually lost last season. There’s no style points in the NBA standings, or even the NBA Cup standings. They can still clinch a quarterfinal spot if the Dallas Mavericks beat the Denver Nuggets later Friday, but if the Dubs want to host a game, they’ll need to beat the Nuggets, too. And close the game a lot stronger.