Warriors’ Andrew Wiggins takes step toward return against Clippers

Chris Paul and Gary Payton II will remain out for the Golden State Warriors on Saturday against the Los Angeles Clippers. Just 48 hours after slamming the index finger on his shooting hand in a car door, though, Andrew Wiggins could be back on the floor at Crypto.com Arena after missing the first of his team’s two-game set with LA.

Wiggins is officially listed as questionable to play in the Warriors’ rematch versus the Clippers with right finger soreness. He was a surprise scratch from Golden State’s impressive win over Los Angeles on Thursday night, joining the injured Paul and Payton on the sidelines after Steve Kerr shed light on the mechanics of his injury before the game.

“He slammed a car door on it this morning,” Kerr said of Wiggins. “He went through shootaround and I knew as soon as I saw him try to shoot. It’s his index finger, so he could barely shoot and couldn’t put much pressure on it, so I figured he’d be out. Just a tough blow for him and for us.”

Golden State’s win over LA at Chase Center on Thursday was one of the most encouraging performances of its unnerving start to 2023-24. Down Wiggins and Payton, their top two on-ball defenders, not to mention a communicator like Paul, it was easy to assume the Dubs would struggle containing Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, James Harden and Russell Westbrook.

Defense indeed wasn’t the driving force behind the Warriors’ shorthanded win. LA put up a 121.3 offensive rating, just a hair below the Indiana Pacers’ league-leading mark. Leonard was the Clippers’ only future Hall-of-Famer who made more than half his shots, though. George scored 15 points on 18 field goal attempts, Westbrook was nearly as inefficient and Harden only managed one basket from inside the arc.

Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, especially, fared well guarding Leonard, forcing him into contested shots from the perimeter. But it was Golden State’s offense that led the way on Thursday, a promising sign after the team’s epic second-half and late-game collapse two days earlier against the Sacramento Kings.