The Wolves put D'Lo Russell on Wiggins to start the game, and to their
great credit, Wiggins and the Warriors took full advantage of that. Then
the Wolves put someone else on Wiggins and he didn't score so much,
until the 4th quarter when he went crazy again. Nice. -AL

==========================================================
Andrew Wiggins goes off on his former team in Warriors’ sixth straight win
Golden State's 6-7 wing scored a season-high 35 points on 14-of-19
shooting vs. Minnesota
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 10: Golden State Warriors’ Andrew
Wiggins (22) passes the ball against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the
first quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on
Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 10: Golden State Warriors’ Andrew
Wiggins (22) passes the ball against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the
first quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on
Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
By EVAN WEBECK | ewebeck@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: November 10, 2021 at 9:35 p.m. | UPDATED: November 11, 2021
at 4:03 a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2021/11/10/andrew-wiggins-goes-off-on-his-former-team-in-warriors-fifth-straight-win/

SAN FRANCISCO — It wasn’t a revenge game, insisted Andrew Wiggins,
sporting a mile-wide smile.

“Not a revenge game,” Wiggins said. “Just a well-played game against a
former team. That’s all it was. It was a fun game.”

Some of Wiggins’ best games since joining the Golden State Warriors have
come against the team that traded him two seasons ago. None, however,
could match the efficiency, the aggression and the explosiveness on
display in the Warriors’ 123-110 win over the Timberwolves Wednesday
night, led by 35 points from the lanky Canadian who spent the first
five-plus seasons of his professional career with Minnesota.

An usually assertive Wiggins connected on his first 10 attempts from the
field and didn’t miss until almost 4 minutes had expired in the second
half. He brought the ball up the court on the Warriors’ first
possession, drew a foul against D’Angelo Russell, and set the tone for
the rest of the night.

“Andrew was fantastic,” coach Steve Kerr said afterward. “The aggression
from the beginning of the game. Loved his energy. Obviously he was
pretty excited to play against his old team. We needed everything he
brought us tonight.”

Wiggins’ 35 points came on 14-of-19 shooting from the field and were a
season-best for a player averaging 15.6 per game entering Wednesday
night. It was his 43rd time scoring 30 or more points but only the third
time he’s done it with Golden State.

>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 10: Golden State Warriors’ Andrew
Wiggins (22) dunks over Minnesota Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns (32)
in the fourth quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on
Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

The Warriors packaged Russell for Wiggins at the trade deadline two
seasons ago. Playing alongside Stephen Curry, Wiggins hasn’t often had
to step into the playmaking role he was asked to play offensively in
Minnesota. Nights like Wednesday are a reminder that Wiggins has those
skills, too.

“He’s become more of a defensive stopper for us, somebody we put on the
opponent’s best wing player night after night,” Kerr said prior to
tipoff. “He’s just become a really consistent player for us, a really
important one given the size and athleticism that he provides for us.”

Wiggins couldn’t have turned in a more efficient performance in the
first half. He connected on all nine of his attempts from the field on
his way to 22 points before intermission as the Warriors raced out to a
69-54 advantage.

Karl Anthony Towns, the primary remnant left of Wiggins’ tenure in
Minnesota, got an intimate reunion with his former teammate as “Maple
Jordan” earned his nickname, outstretching his left arm and soaring over
Towns for a posterizing slam dunk and his 19th and 20th points of the half.

He did it to him again in the fourth quarter.

Wiggins couldn’t pick his favorite.

“I don’t know,” he said with a mile-wide smile. “KAT’s my guy.”

Wiggins’ fourth-quarter putback over his former teammate provided Curry
with some new wall art — and an extra piece of motivation.

“I’m gonna need that for my wall,” Curry said. “From my angle, he was up
there looking down at the rim. Anytime you catch a body like that, with
their history… I’m gonna text Wiggs that picture of him dunking on KAT
every game, right before the game and see if that helps gets the juices
flowing.”

Towns is the only holdover from the starting lineup of Wiggins’ final
game with Minnesota. Five other players remain on the roster, but the
teardown took a little air out of any kind of revenge game, he said.

“I feel like when I had left, a lot of people were gone, too,” Wiggins
said beforehand. “So it was like facing a whole new team. … I spent most
of my career there, had great moments there. So every time we play each
other, it’s fun, it’s competitive. I always look forward to it.”

With Wiggins taking on a starring role, the Warriors rode yet another
formula to victory as they improved their NBA-leading record to 10-1,
matching their hot start to the 2018-19 season.

With one game remaining on their two-week homestand, the Warriors have
won their past six and will seek to finish with seven wins in eight
contests Friday against the Chicago Bulls.

Kevon Looney assumed a larger role, matching up against Towns all game
but particularly after Draymond Green exited with midway through the
third quarter, grabbing a season-high 17 rebounds to lead Golden State’s
effort on the glass to go along with 11 points for a double-double.

“I thought Kevon Looney was just amazing. That’s one of the toughest
matchups in the league,” Kerr said. “For Loon to go out there and battle
him and play 29 minutes, that’s where he is now. That’s the great thing:
he’s healthy.”

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The Warriors limited Towns, one of the top-scoring big men in the NBA
with 23.6 points per game entering Wednesday, to 17 points and 12 rebounds.

But second-year guard Anthony Edwards touched the Warriors for a
career-high 47 points on 16-of-27 shooting, including seven buckets from 3.

Russell, in his first game back at Chase Center, contributed 18 points
and seven assists.

The two players dealt for one another have had different experiences
playing against their former teams.

Russell was injured for Minnesota’s two visits to San Francisco last
season and scored seven in his only rematch after being traded. Wiggins,
meanwhile, upped his scoring average in four games against the
Timberwolves to 26 per contest, more than any other opponent of his.

>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 10: Golden State Warriors’ Andrew
Wiggins (22) dunks the ball against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the
second quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on
Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 10: Golden State Warriors’ Otto
Porter Jr. (32) dunks against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second
quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, Nov.
10, 2021. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 10: Golden State Warriors’ Gary
Payton II (0) goes up for a dunk in front of Minnesota Timberwolves’
D’Angelo Russell (0) in the second quarter at the Chase Center in San
Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area
News Group)

>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 10: Golden State Warriors’ Gary
Payton II (0) dunks in front of Minnesota Timberwolves’ D’Angelo Russell
(0) in the second quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif.,
on Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 10: Golden State Warriors’ Gary
Payton II (0) guards against Minnesota Timberwolves’ D’Angelo Russell
(0) in the second quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif.,
on Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 10: Golden State Warriors’
Draymond Green (23) winces after a play against the Minnesota
Timberwolves in the third quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco,
Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021. He would leave the game and not
return. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 10: Golden State Warriors’
Stephen Curry (30) guards against Minnesota Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony
Towns (32) in the first quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco,
Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)