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Wiggins' free throw struggles are potential problem for Warriors

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Andrew Wiggins once again struggled mightily against the Nuggets in the Warriors’ win. The forward only scored seven points on the night and missed all three of his free-throw attempts.

Sitting barely beneath the surface of Stephen Curry’s late-game heroics, Kevon Looney’s admirable fortitude and Jordan Poole’s sizzling scoring bender is a Warriors subject moving rapidly from quiet concern to potential problem.

That subject is not Klay Thompson, who is forcing too many shots and missing more than usual. That’s a temporary problem destined for a solution.

The subject is Andrew Wiggins’ overall game, which has taken a precipitous decline, most notably with his free-throw shooting.

The man who last month made his first career appearance in the NBA All-Star Game, as a starter no less, is slowly sliding toward a place that ought to be beneath anyone with such credentials: The bench, in the fourth quarter of a game still in peril.

Wiggins is 9-of-26 (34.6 percent) from the line since January. That’s 15 games, an average of 1.7 attempts per. He’s getting to the line at roughly one-third the rate of his career (4.9 attempts per game).

Wiggins was 0-of-3 from the line Tuesday night in a 113-102 win over the Nuggets in Denver. This was the fifth time this season that he took multiple free throws in a game and missed them all. All five times have come in his last 23 games.

There were no such empty visits to the line in his first 39 games, over which he shot 69.7 percent.
Which begs the question that probably lurks in the back of Wiggins’ mind, as well as in those of his teammates and coaches: Could this be psychological?

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This is trending toward Ben Simmons territory, where confidence simply evaporates.

“That can be a factor,” coach Steve Kerr told reporters in Denver. “It happens to everybody. You go through stretches where you’re not feeling as comfortable at the foul line. That could be a factor right now.

“But I’m not worried about Andrew. He’s had a great season. It’s been a tough stretch for him, but he’s competing. He made some big plays for us tonight, especially defensively.”

If Kerr is worried about Wiggins, he’s not going to admit it in public. It would be an internal matter, something for the staff to address with Wiggins in the proper setting.

But there is enough to generate significant worry.

The Wiggins of the past six weeks is not someone the Warriors want going to the line in the final minutes of a tight game, and certainly not in the postseason. If this slide continues, and too long to be considered “a slump,” Kerr will have to decide if he is comfortable putting Wiggins on the floor when it matters most. 

Kerr will have to decide if he’s going to put Wiggins in the same situation Kevon Looney was in on Jan. 16 at Chase Center.

Nuggets coach Michael Malone, sensing a chance for a fourth-quarter comeback, directed his players to deliberately foul Looney. It worked. Loon missed a bunch of free throws, and the Nuggets seized momentum and overcame a 10-point deficit in the final seven minutes.

If Kerr had to do it all over again – and, boy, did he acknowledge regrets after that bitter loss – he likely pulls Looney off the floor the moment the deliberate hacking begins.

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With the Warriors headed for the postseason and trying to get healthy, a Wiggins free-throw drought puts them in a delicate space with a player who is paid very well to play very well. Which he did the first half of the season.

Now, not so much.

The Warriors have 15 games to rediscover the elusive excellent defense that gave them such a tremendous start. They’ll have 10-13 games to reintegrate Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala, while also introducing James Wiseman to seven strangers.

Wiggins, who as a 20-year-old in 2015-16 averaged seven free throws a game – and shot 76.1 percent – has 15 games to find his shot, particularly the one all players refer to as “easy money,” though it has been anything but that for him.

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