Warriors Approach Crossroads as Andrew Wiggins Returns From Mystery Absence

The Golden State Warriors find themselves in a precarious position as they return from an up-and-down road trip.

That’s not to say the Warriors are necessarily in trouble. In fact, they have shown signs of life lately, and they are about to get wing Andrew Wiggins back in the lineup after he was excused from the team under unexplained circumstances. Wiggins returned to the team on Tuesday, and the team released a clean injury sheet prior to their Wednesday showdown against the Milwaukee Bucks at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN.

“We’re on the rise,” Wiggins told reporters Tuesday. “We found something good. Found that identity that we were searching for. We put pieces together that worked, and it’s been special last few games. Everyone is play well, playing together, and we look like the real Golden State Warriors.”

Fans will have a chance to see if Wiggins is right very soon. The “real” Warriors are used to big stakes, and the stakes over the next few weeks loom large.

The Warriors at the moment sit in 10th in the Western Conference with 22 games remaining in the regular season. Their net rating (points scored per 100 possessions minus points surrendered per 100 possessions) of +1.2 suggests precisely what they have been so far: A team with a shot at the postseason but few promising signs of a deep run.

A slightly deeper dive, however, could be much more encouraging for Warriors fans.

Since the start of February, the Warriors are 12-3 and have a net rating of +7.5 if you courteously exclude the statistic-warping 52-point beatdown the Celtics administered on Sunday. That net rating would be good for fourth in the NBA if extended out for the whole season, and they produced it despite shooting struggles by superstar guard Stephen Curry, who has hit just 31.5 percent of his triples since the All-Star break. That level of shooting is statistically unlikely to last into the postseason for Curry.

If the Warriors heat up, they could make up some ground in the standings, as the team is nipping at the heels of several opponents ahead of them. The Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks are both within a game. The Sacramento Kings are two games ahead. The Phoenix Suns are up by three. The New Orleans Pelicans lead them by four games.

With 22 games remaining, the Warriors don’t have long to catch the Suns and Pelicans. They do, however, have the NBA’s fifth-easiest schedule remaining by opponent winning percentage, and the easiest schedule remaining of any of the teams ahead of them in the standings. Their upcoming contests include three games against the San Antonio Spurs, and one each against the Portland Trail Blazers, Memphis Grizzlies, Charlotte Hornets and Houston Rockets. After Wednesday’s game against the Bucks, the only top-three team they face in either conference going forward is the Minnesota Timberwolves, and they have a head-to-head matchup with the Pelicans.

Meanwhile, the Suns and Pelicans have the NBA’s toughest and ninth-toughest remaining schedules respectively. Phoenix in particular has it rough—seven total games against the top three teams in both conferences, including two each against the first-place Boston Celtics and Timberwolves, as well as one each against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets and Bucks.

The Warriors now find themselves at a crossroads. On the one hand, the Celtics just beat them by 52 points. On the other, the Celtics—setting aside their collapse against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday—have been blowing out everyone, and the Warriors were at the end of a long road trip, which is often a schedule loss. They face a tough test against the Bucks as they return, but they passed multiple tough tests while on the road and finished 3-1.

The Warriors have looked like a shell of their former selves at times during the regular season, but as it winds down, they have an opportunity to help themselves enormously.

“I’ve liked this team all year,” Steve Kerr told reporters recently. “We had some struggles early on, but it was really more about things just coming together. The chemistry’s been great right from the beginning of camp. The guys are all committed to each other, they care about each other, they care about winning and we’ve gotten healthy and found a good groove.”