Warriors: Chris Paul, Andrew Wiggins probable to play against Portland
Golden State Warriors expected to get some players back against Portland
Trail Blazers

>Golden State Warriors’ Chris Paul (3) and Golden State Warriors’ Gary
Payton II (0) sit on the bench during their game against the Los Angeles
Clippers in the second quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco,
Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
By SHAYNA RUBIN | srubin@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: December 5, 2023 at 2:03 p.m. | UPDATED: December 6, 2023 at
3:42 a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/12/05/chris-paul-andrew-wiggins-probable-to-play-against-portland/

SAN FRANCISCO — Chris Paul and Andrew Wiggins are expected to play
Wednesday against the Portland Trail Blazers, Warriors coach Steve Kerr
said.

Paul, 38, sat out the Warriors’ last two games against the Los Angeles
Clippers with a left leg nerve contusion that sidelined him early in the
Warriors’ meltdown loss to the Sacramento Kings last week. Wiggins, 28,
sat out the two Clippers games after slamming his index finger in a car
door on Thursday morning.

Both came out unscathed after a Tuesday practice, which included a light
scrimmage, Kerr said.

The Warriors split their two-game home-and-home series with Clippers,
their loss in Los Angeles the product of a blown 22-point lead in the
second half. But in Paul, Wiggins and Gary Payton II’s injury absences
emerged an opportunity for bench players who’d fallen out of the
rotation to shine.

Payton is out with a strained calf suffered in Sacramento until at least
Thursday, though his absence could be longer.

The returns of Wiggins and Paul mean an imminent rotation crunch. Kerr
wouldn’t reveal who would be riding the bench against Portland, but
Moses Moody and Brandin Podziemski were out of the rotation with a fully
healthy team against the Kings and were tapped back in when teammates
started falling.

“That’s what we are facing tomorrow. Everybody’s healthy, then it’s just
math,” Kerr said. “Not everyone is going to be happy and that’s just the
way it goes. We’ll adapt and have our rotation. Who knows how it plays
out? Someone may trip on a banana tomorrow. So until we have to make a
decision, we won’t make one.”

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Who will be benched isn’t an easy decision. The rookie Podziemski and
Moody have thrived in their minutes throughout the year and especially
of late, injecting much-needed youth and athleticism edge to their
lineups. Notably, the Warriors have outscored their opponents by 46
total points in Podziemski’s 262 minutes.

Paul leads the team with a plus-51 in his 483 minutes and his 7.3
assists per game. He was settling into a scoring rhythm before his
injury, upping his average to 8.9 points per game and shooting 40% from
the field. Wiggins has struggled all season, but got injured coming off
one of his best games against the Kings in which he scored 29 points
shooting an efficient 11-for-18 with 10 rebounds.