Stephen Curry didn't play his typical role of hero for the Golden State Warriors in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Monday night. He finished with only 16 points, and shockingly failed to make a single three-pointer, snapping his NBA-record streak of 132 postseason games in which he had drilled one at least one from behind the arc. But, much to the Warriors' delight, Curry had a stand-in who's transformed into an impact frontcourt starter, after years of being overlooked.
Golden State is now one win away from capturing its fourth league title since 2015 because of Andrew Wiggins, who scored a team-high 26 points with 13 rebounds in a pivotal 104-94 victory over the Boston Celtics at Chase Center. The eighth-year forward and former first-overall pick has averaged 18.4 points and 9.4 boards in five Finals games, and Game 5 was the first time in Wiggins' playoff career that he led his team outright in both stat categories, per ESPN.
"Talk about a stock rising and somebody who's really turned around his whole NBA career," Maggie Gray said during Maggie and Perloff on Tuesday. "There's an Andrew Wiggins appreciation moment going on in the league because he's doing it on the offensive side... It's a defined role, and it's one he plays really well... His good stats and his bad team [in Minnesota] were contributing to an idea that he'd sort of become a bust. Now, he's a meaningful contributor..."
"Isn't this all about expectations?... Wiggins has scored 16 points per game in these playoffs, and he scored 17.5 points during their regular season," Perloff said. "So, he's kind of been doing what he's been doing all along. But there's some narrative about Wiggins that we're painting -- that he's some hero. But, he's basically the same player he's been all season. Which is good, he fits in that role nicely. But if he wasn't on the Warriors, what would he be doing?"
Golden State, which clinched the West's third seed with a 53-29 record, will play Game 6 against Boston on Thursday at TD Garden, with tip-off slated for 9:00 ET. According to FiveThirtyEight projections, the Warriors currently have a 63-percent chance to capture their fourth title since 2015. And if the Celtics hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy, it'll be their NBA-record 18th in team history.
Maggie and Perloff's complete thoughts on the NBA Finals can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow the Maggie and Perloff Show on Twitter @MaggieandPerl and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.