Andrew Wiggins was one of the stars of the show in Tuesday’s Play-In elimination game against the Charlotte Hornets, but the Miami Heat got a painful late reminder of a problem surrounding the 31-year-old that the Golden State Warriors know all too well.
Wiggins hit back-to-back threes to give his team a six-point lead in Charlotte with 3:30 left in regulation, yet went completely missing over the remainder of the game as the Heat’s season came to an end with an agonizing 127-126 defeat.
Heat get painful reminder of Andrew Wiggins problem
Wiggins was terrific for much of the game, particularly after Miami lost star big man Bam Adebayo to an injury in the first-half. The former Warrior forward had 27 points, seven rebounds and three assists on 10-of-18 shooting and 4-of-8 from 3-point range, putting the Heat in position for an unlikely victory.
The issue was Wiggins was a ghost down the stretch, having failed to score a single point in the final 8:30 of the game which included in the five-minute overtime period where he didn't take a single field-goal attempt.
Perhaps some of the responsibility should be put on head coach Erik Spoelsta for not setting up a play or two for Wiggins when the Canadian clearly had it rolling, especially when one of their primary offensive options in Adebayo was glued to the sidelines.
However, it's also emblematic of Wiggins' entire career -- one where he has moments or stretches of being a star, yet that's intertwined with periods of going silent and failing to truly stamp his presence on the game.
How can Wiggins go the entirety of overtime without one solitary field-goal attempt, all the while Davion Mitchell -- a career 7.9-point per game scorer -- takes five shots? Wiggins recorded only one rebound in overtime, and nor was he a defensive presence either considering the Hornets shot 6-of-9 in the period.
Warriors could no longer rely on Andrew Wiggins as primary option
Wiggins was and still remains a very valuable, starting-quality NBA player, having arguably been the second-best player on Golden State's memorable run to the championship in 2022.
Yet it got to the point where the Warriors could no longer rely on the former first overall pick as a primary offensive option alongside Stephen Curry, leading to last year's trade with the Heat that landed Jimmy Butler -- a 6x All-Star and far more consistent and better offensive player.
Tuesday's elimination was a reminder of the very best Wiggins can provide, but also why he hasn't quite reached the heights that were expected of him when he entered the league over a decade ago.
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