TORONTO — Andrew Wiggins rejoined his team in his hometown of Toronto after missing the past two games for personal reasons, setting him up to play against the Raptors on Monday night.
Wiggins, 29, flew back from Detroit to the Bay Area earlier this week, missing Golden State’s back-to-back for personal reasons Steve Kerr said would be short-term. Kerr expects Wiggins to suit up against the Raptors.
“We love Wiggs, need Wiggs,” Steph Curry said after the Warriors’ practice in the Scotiabank Arena. “We’re not complete without him. With (Jonathan Kuminga) being out, it’s even more of an emphasis with him on the wing. We need him, for sure.”
Wiggins has never played against the Raptors in Toronto as a Warrior. In fact, the last time Wiggins played an NBA game in Toronto was in 2018. The only time between then and Monday he played against the Raptors on the road was when Toronto was playing its home games in Tampa, Florida because of the pandemic.
Kuminga is in a walking boot and not expected to return from his significant ankle sprain for at least another two weeks. Earlier this week, the Warriors played a game without Wiggins, Kuminga, Moses Moody, Brandin Podziemski and Gary Payton II, leaving them almost completely bereft of wings. Gui Santos seized the opportunity well with his energy, but he’s not a viable option long-term.
Without Kuminga, the Warriors need Wiggins to be more aggressive offensively. He’s averaging 16.4 points per game on 39.8% shooting from behind the arc while regularly defending the opposing team’s best player — in indubitably strong bounce-back season. But desperation from the injury report calls for more scoring volume from the two-way forward.
Curry and Draymond Green are also each expected to play against the Raptors. They both practiced after missing the second leg of the Warriors’ back-to-back in Indiana. Gary Payton II (calf strain) also scrimmaged and is trending toward a return.
Brandin Podziemski (abdominal strain), however, isn’t yet close to coming back. Monday will be his eighth straight missed game — the longest absence of his career. It’s been hard on Podziemski mentally, he said, but he’s in good hands with head of sports medicine and performance Rick Celebrini, who has specialized in the core muscle group for years.
Podziemski said Celebrini is helping him re-learn how to run properly, with more efficient movements that should put less strain on vulnerable muscles. He didn’t participate in the team’s scrimmage on Sunday.
Notable
— Steve Kerr said he plans to visit his burned-down childhood home in Pacific Palisades as soon as he and his family are allowed to, but won’t miss a game for it.
— The Warriors’ game on Wednesday night in Minneapolis got moved from a 7 p.m. tipoff to 8:30 p.m.. That matchup is the bookend of their current four-game, week-long road trip.