Wiggins’ Historic Scoring Streak

Andrew Wiggins had his impressive streak of scoring 20 or more points snapped on Saturday. The streak ended at a Minnesota Timberwolves franchise-record 19 consecutive games.

Minnesota Timberwolves star Andrew Wiggins is growing up in front of our eyes. He has started to come into his own as a player and taking the next step in his development.

Saturday’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs marked the first time in 20 games that Wiggins failed to score 20 or more points in a game. Wiggins ended with a franchise-record 19 consecutive games.

The old mark of 16 games was set by Kevin Garnett on two separate occasions, once in 2000 and again in 2003.

Karl-Anthony Towns is already hot on Wiggins’ heels. Towns has his own streak of 20 or more points still active at 17 consecutive games.

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Throughout Wiggins’ streak he relied on his go-to moves to get his points. Oftentimes Wiggins could easily be confused with one of the all-time greats, Kobe Bryant.

Wiggins learned the turnaround jumper by watching Bryant. Kobe learned the turnaround by watching Michael Jordan. Hopefully Wiggins’ career path also follows them along the way.

Hitting the turnaround is a lot more difficult than it looks. It takes constant practice, not only in the gym, but in the weight room. It takes strength to be able to shoot the ball fading away from the rim with a defender in your face.

Add in the distance where the shot is being taken from and it creates extra difficulty.

Throughout the 19-game streak Wiggins shot 58.1 percent on turnaround jumpers. He attempted 43 turnarounds, which accounted for 11.1 percent of his shots during that time.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Wiggins’ plethora of spin moves, turnaround jumpers and athletic finishes around the rim have been a joy to watch.  The way Wiggins flicks his wrist when he releases his jumper is a thing of beauty.

When Wiggins first came into the NBA, some knocked him for being too passive. They said he didn’t hunt for his shot as often as he should.

Over the 19-game streak, Wiggins averaged 20.7 shots per game. That ranked sixth in the NBA over that span. Wiggins also connected on 50.1 percent of his shots during that time.

Earlier in the season, Wiggins was fire from downtown. His three-point percentage has dropped as of late, but Wiggins has done a great job of expanding his game to other areas of the floor.

Wiggins hasn’t relied on the three-point shot to get his points. He is constantly attacking defenders, using his strength and athleticism to get into a scoring position. Over the 19-game streak, Wiggins only averaged 3.6 three-point attempts per game.

This resulted in Wiggins constantly trying to get to one of his hot spots on the floor or into the paint. Wiggins is too quick for bigger defenders to stay in front of on pick and rolls. As he shows. he can also use his strength to fight his way to the rim as well:

Wiggins doesn’t fill out the stat sheet in many other areas besides the scoring department. He only averaged 3.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists during his 19-game streak. However, his rebounding and passing ability are another story for another day.

With Zach LaVine out, Wiggins’ scoring has been desperately needed. The Timberwolves may have the stars at the top of their roster, but severely lack depth in the middle and bottom.

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With no additional help coming this season, Wiggins will need to continue to shoulder the scoring load with Towns.

Saturday night saw Wiggins run into an immovable object in Kawhi Leonard. Wiggins shot 6-of-24 in the game, including 2-for-8 in the fourth quarter and overtime.

Leonard, who is the two-time defending Defensive Player of the Year, is one of the greatest defenders this league has ever seen. Wiggins should feel no shame for his performance on Saturday.

Leonard has done that to many great players in the last couple of years and Wiggins was another one added to his list.

Wiggins’ historic streak will remain in the record books, for now at least.  Already in Wiggins’ short career he has displayed the tenacious scoring ability that is so difficult to find. I have a feeling that he will set many scoring records in his career.

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Wiggins is a generational talent and appears to be taking full advantage.