Wiggins’ fourth-quarter Luka defense helped seal Warriors’ win originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – Luka Dončić was well on his way to another big game and stealing the spotlight during Klay Thompson’s return to the Bay Area before Andrew Wiggins stepped up and squashed just about everything that Dončić tried in the fourth quarter.
Dončić, who dropped 31 points in 29 minutes through the first three quarters, got bubkes when it counted most. Wiggins held the Dallas superstar scoreless in nearly 12 minutes down the stretch, preventing the Mavs from a late rally in Golden State’s 120-117 win at Chase Center.
It wasn’t just the fourth quarter, either. Doncic definitely got his, but Wiggins forced the five-time All-Star into 2-of-10 shooting behind the arc.
“Wiggs was great,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “I just think there has to be an accumulative effect on Luka. You can’t stop him, he gets to so many shots. You just have to try to make it difficult.
“He played 41 minutes, Wiggs was draped all over him. And I thought maybe that affected the 3-point shooting a little bit. He’s such a phenomenal player but you just make it difficult. I thought that’s what Wiggs did.”
Coming on the heels of his impressive defensive stint holding down Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics last week, Wiggins once again stepped up and did a good job of keeping Dončić from really taking over.
“He’s tough. He’s as tough as it gets,” Wiggins said. “The ball’s in his hands the whole game. You know he’s going to shoot the ball. Every time he drives, he’s going to take a chance.”
It was Dončić’s worst 3-point shooting game since he went 1-for-9 then 1-for-8 in back-to-back games in late October.
“Just continued to make it hard on him, that’s all I can do, Wiggins told NBC Sports Bay Area after the game. “Sometimes you can’t be too physical because the refs are sometimes not going to let you play and you just have to figure out the game. I felt they were calling a lot of stuff today so I just tried to stay solid and make it hard for him. I knew my guys had my back.”
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