Following his home debut at Minnesota's Target Center, Andrew Wiggins sat in the locker room with a smile on his face as the Timberwolves celebrated their first victory of the season, a 97-91 defeat of the Detroit Pistons.
Wolves head coach Flip Saunders said the locker room was energetic following the win that brought Minnesota to 1-1 on the season. But it would make sense if Wiggins, who sat down the stretch, didn't have as much fun as those who finished out the Wolves' first win of the season. Wiggins showed no signs of discontent on this night, however.
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Andrew Wiggins was scoreless through the first two quarters. He came alive in the third, though, scoring on a layup inside to get himself out of a funk. He continued on to finish with an excellent third quarter, notching all eight of his points in one impressive stretch.
"Seeing the ball go in the hoop one time, that got me going," Wiggins said. "[The home opener as a whole] was exciting, from the introduction, to the end, was exciting for me."
After that first shot, the ball kept dropping for Wiggins. The fun reached a peak when Wiggins caught the ball on the left side of the baseline and went up for what he hoped would result in a poster. There was no dunk on the play, but it still got the crowd going. The Timberwolves made a big climb in this quarter, their lead nearing a 20-point difference.
Despite his solid play in the third, Wiggins didn't play deep into the the fourth quarter. There were moments where he could have been used more, too. Caron Butler's 24-point second half, many of which came aganst the skinnier Corey Brewer in the fourth quarter, sparked a massive comeback for the Pistons. While the Wolves did win without him, there were moments where Wiggins' skillset could have been valuable.
"I thought Wiggins showed, he had a stretch there in the third quarter where he showed what the future is, with his ability to go and take over games," Saunders said. "I was hesitant to put him back in with six minutes to go. We went with our veterans. If we would've lost, I probably would've been kicking myself for not putting him back in."
Through two games, Wiggins hasn't lit up the box scores, putting together six and eight-point games, respectively. While his tenacity and activity have remained high on the defensive end, he has had moments of invisibility on the offensive end. This was a much bigger deal in the first game, when Wiggins was welcomed into the NBA by lockdown defensive wizard Tony Allen.
Still, Wiggins has never appeared overmatched or overwhelmed with the ball in his hands. At this point, he is willing to let himself ease into the game at the pace Saunders sees fit. To him, there are more important things than putting up big numbers right away.
"As long as we're winning, I'm happy," Wiggins said. "I'm a very unselfish guy and all I want to do is win. I know coach knows what he's doing, he's one of the best ever at doing his job."