Steve Kerr feels the Golden State Warriors are “whole” again with the return of Andrew Wiggins, despite defeat in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series to the Sacramento Kings.
Wiggins featured for the first time since February 13, having missed two months because of a family matter, and impressed in his 28-minute display – finishing with 17 points on 7-of-16 shooting and four blocked shots as the Warriors went down 126-123 at Golden 1 Center.
His performance impressed Kerr, particularly his first half display, and the signs look promising for the rest of the series.
“So awesome to have him back. You know, we’re whole with him out there. Our team makes sense with Wiggs back. I thought he looked really good,” Kerr said.
“The first half was amazing, second half he maybe wore down a little bit, which is to be expected, given he hasn’t played in a game in over two months. He was fantastic.”
Stephen Curry had a similar assessment of Wiggins’ return, saying: “When you go through all the decisions to put a roster together, all of the pieces have to be fit.
“He’s a big part of everything we do. When you go into a season, you want to be as fully healthy as possible because that’s the way all the pieces are meant to fit.
“We haven’t had it for a very long time, and we tried to hold down the fort. Now we have that look back.”
The Warriors meet the Kings in Game 2 on Monday, then finishing the series with back-to-back home games on Thursday and Sunday.