When James Wiseman’s right knee buckled and he tumbled to the floor during the second quarter of Saturday night’s 125-109 win over the Houston Rockets at Chase Center, what should have been a night headlined by a feel-good win turned into another tough break for the Golden State Warriors and their prized rookie center.
The injury occurred when Wiseman landed awkwardly after Rockets forward Kenyon Martin Jr. blocked his dunk attempt less than a minute into the second quarter. Wiseman grabbed his right knee in pain and headed to the locker room with the team’s director of sports medicine and performance, Dr. Rick Celebrini. Shortly after, he was ruled out for the remainder of the game with six points on 3-for-5 shooting and one rebound in six minutes. Wiseman, 20, will undergo an MRI either Saturday night or Sunday morning, according to head coach Steve Kerr.
This is a tough break for Wiseman, who after totaling 21 points on 15-for-24 shooting and 16 rebounds over the previous two games appeared to be on the verge of a breakthrough during an up-and-down rookie season. An extended absence would add to the list of obstacles the Warriors (25-28) and Wiseman have had to face during this frustrating season.
But with Wiseman’s short-term fate to be determined, the Warriors took care of business against the Rockets (14-39). Twenty-four hours after fumbling away a win against the Washington Wizards, Golden State rode another sublime Stephen Curry performance (38 points on 13-for-21 shooting, 8-for-15 from 3-point range, eight rebounds and five assists), whose 23 points in the third quarter broke the game open.
Add big nights from Andrew Wiggins (25 points, six rebounds and three assists) and Jordan Poole (21 points and four assists off the bench) and the Warriors got an easy win.
No, Golden State doesn’t deserve a ton of credit for beating the team with the NBA’s second-worst record, but a loss would have been inexcusable. This is the sort of game even a middling team like the Warriors are supposed to win, and helps salvage a soft three-game stretch with a 2-1 record.
“A win is a win,” Kerr said. “And we needed one badly.”
The result puts some distance ahead of the 11th-place New Orleans Pelicans — who now trail the Warriors in the Western Conference standings by 11/2 games — and narrows the gap between them and the ninth-place San Antonio Spurs to half a game. With 20 games remaining, Golden State is clutching onto the final spot in the play-in tournament.
It could be argued the Warriors are in position to make a strong push over this final stretch. Curry, who played the second night of a back-to-back set for the first time since suffering his tailbone injury last month, appears healthy and has scored 30 or more points in six straight games. Only three teams in the West have an easier remaining schedule than Golden State, per tankathon.com.
But Wiseman’s status will hang over the team until Monday’s matchup against the Denver Nuggets. If he misses time, Kevon Looney will reprise his role as the starting center and Juan Toscano-Anderson and Draymond Green will fill some minutes in small-ball lineups.
Golden State can still win upcoming games without Wiseman, but the organizational priority is Wiseman’s development. Another setback after he missed training camp because of a positive coronavirus test, 11 games with a wrist injury and three more due to the league’s health and safety protocols wouldn’t be a catastrophe, but it would be a bummer.
