Draymond’s funny reaction to Wiggins assist on Steph record play originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
The Warriors run a lot of plays to get Steph Curry open for 3-pointers, but apparently, the set where he made his NBA-record 2,974th career three in the Warriors’ 105-96 win over the New York Knicks on Tuesday night wasn’t designed for him to get the shot.
On the play at Madison Square Garden, Curry set a screen in the paint to free up Andrew Wiggins. Draymond Green passed the ball to the wing in the key and it looked like Wiggins could have spun right to try to lay the ball in or turned left and tried a tough fadeaway shot over Evan Fournier.
But according to all three Warriors in question, Wiggins never passes out of that play, and if he does, it’s never to Curry.
And the fact that Wiggins, not Green, got the assist on Curry’s record-breaking 3-point hilariously had Draymond in a playful mood after the game.
“Wiggins never passes out of that play. Never,” Green told reporters. “And if he do, it’s to me at the top of the key, which I then hit the three on in the second half at the end, right? That’s the same play. But it never happens where Wiggins is hitting Steph on that play. I’m upset. I’m just playing. It was a great pass. Anytime you can get a three from inside-out, it’s a much easier shot. So happy he got it and I was on the court with my hands up so that was good enough for me just to be there to witness it.”
Green’s comments were relayed to Wiggins, who admitted the first goal of that play is for him to look for his shot, not pass.
“On that play, it’s a bucket first, but I saw Steph with a little bit of space and a chance to make history, so I gave it up and he made the shot,” Wiggins said.
Even Curry, who had generated space from former Warriors guard Alec Burks, was surprised Wiggins passed out of the paint.
“We run that play a lot and that’s the first time he’s ever made that pass,” Curry said with a laugh.
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It might be just a small footnote to history, but Wiggins will be remembered as the player who assisted on Curry’s record-breaking shot, and that’s not lost on the 26-year-old.
“It’s special. Steph is the GOAT,” Wiggins said. “Greatest shooter of all time and today just stamps that. So to get that assist and be on his team, and to assist that basket, it means a lot, it’s special, something I will cherish and remember for the rest of my life.”
Green didn’t get the assist on Curry’s big shot, but he was one of the first people to embrace the all-time 3-point king once the game was stopped to acknowledge the moment. That’s not a terrible consolation prize.