How Andrew Wiggins, Buddy Hield, and Lindy Waters III got going in similar-but-different ways
01/05/2025 01:05 AM
Warriors get their second win a row
It might seem oxymoronic to say that the Golden State Warriors pretty much run the same or similar things over and over again but also get different kinds of shots on those similar actions. But a nifty thing about the Warriors' sets is that outcomes aren't as similar as the initiation that preceded them.
Their win against the Memphis Grizzlies on the first night of a back-to-back — without Steph Curry due to injury management and without Jonathan Kuminga for half of the game due to a gnarly ankle sprain — was an example, despite the fact that without Curry on the floor this season, the Warriors have been:
- Outscored by 94 points
- Have been worse by 18 points per 100 possessions on offense
"Strength in Numbers" is a slogan that has perhaps outlived its usefulness, but for this game, it was truly an effort mired in numbers. Not only did Dennis Schröder — as Curry's substitute as a primary ball handler and scorer — needed to get going; others such as Buddy Hield, Andrew Wiggins, and Lindy Waters III needed to step up and get themselves into a groove, as well.
In that regard, play calling without Curry expectedly shifted into more pick-and-roll and/or pick-and-roll adjacent sets for Schröder. Those were perhaps the only instances of Kerr shifting the nature of his half-court offense to cater to a player that thrives in the pick-and-roll. The others, however, received similar actions that had one of two aims:
- Get free around one or multiple screens for a good three-point look
- Create momentum for downhill opportunities and paint touches
To start the second quarter on a good note — and after the Warriors squandered a good start to come out of the first quarter with a mere one-point cushion — Kerr decided to dedicate the after-timeout (ATO) set to Waters. Prior to tonight's game, Waters had been struggling — he had been shooting 32.7% on threes after a hot start to the season, and several percentage points below his career average of 36.6%. Waters had been in and out of the rotation, and only recently had broken his way in due to injuries opening playing time for him.
With Hield sharing the floor, Kerr drew up a play that started with a Hield "Iverson" cut, with the ball being fed to Kuminga on the right wing. Hield and Draymond Green set staggered away screens for Waters, with his defender opting to chase:
Cam Spencer tries his best to catch up, but Waters gains enough separation and lift to drill his first three of the game, a shot that would get him going and help him drill three more threes to end the night with 16 points on a 4-of-5 clip on threes.
With a minute to go in the second quarter, another similar screening action, this time for Hield, gets the struggling gunslinger a good look from beyond the arc. "Touch" or "Get" action between Schröder and Trayce Jackson-Davis starts the set, followed by Jackson-Davis drifting over to set an away screen for Hield.
As Jackson-Davis sets the screen for Hield, take note of the second side — and how Desmond Bane's attention is drawn toward it and away from Hield:
The "dummy" second side action allows Hield to separate himself from Bane and drill a shot that he hasn't been making as of late. But this one needed on a night where the Warriors' main source of advantage creation and scoring played the role of a spectator in civilian clothing. Hield would go on to finish with 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting on threes.
Wiggins — after making an impression with an impressionless first half in which he scored two points on 1-of-6 shooting — needed a jolt on offense. While one can argue that being trucked over by Bane on a drive did more to wake Wiggins up, it was on a particular half-court set that may have awakened Wiggins' often-latent scoring aggression.
Note the similarities with the set for Waters above: "Touch"/"Get" action between Schröder and Jackson-Davis starts the set. Hield clears over to the weak side, with Schröder dribbling toward Wiggins to hand the ball off, followed by Wiggins coming off of Jackson-Davis' ball screen — a maneuver collectively called "Miami" action:
With Wiggins having an often-shaky handle, getting him the ball on a hand-off + screen action allows him to get downhill while minimizing the number of dribbles he has to make in order to touch the paint. He draws the foul on Zach Edey, makes both free throws, and goes on to have a 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting in the second half — 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field and 65.5% True Shooting to finish the game.
Wiggins, Hield, and Waters weren't the only heroes for this game. After several games of struggling to capture his rhythm on a team that fundamentally plays different from his preferred style, Schröder used this Curry-less game to refine his change-of-pace craft and pick-and-roll creation, helped by Steve Kerr calling for more ball-screen centered actions for the German guard.
With Kuminga going down with what looked like a severe ankle sprain and potentially being sidelined for a prolonged period of time, it was crucial that others stepped up in the absence of immediate scoring threats. With Curry rested and coming back tomorrow night against the Sacramento Kings, the Warriors will be riding a wave of momentum not seen since the early stages of the season.
