The Warriors have been largely defined by their guard play over the course of their recent dynasty outside of Kevin Durant, and rightfully so in a lot of ways. Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and now Jordan Poole are all phenomenal players who are major keys to the team’s success. However, one of the other important facets of the team’s success has been the value they get out of the wings.

First it was Harrison Barnes, who the Warriors drafted in 2012. While much of Barnes’ legacy as a Warrior is about the 2016 Finals where he played notoriously below his standard, he’s a legit NBA player. He’s currently rostered on the Kings, which isn’t the best situation, but his name is often floated around in trade scenarios or as a guy who could help a lot of teams because he’s a good two-way player, able to hit open shots off the catch, create his own looks when necessary, and guard the opposing team’s best player.

For the Warriors this season, that’s been Andrew Wiggins. He had a solid regular season, adjusting to Golden State’s culture well and establishing consistency, but it’s been the playoffs where he’s shined the most. Especially in the Western Conference Finals, Wiggins has looked every bit of the guy they voted as an all-star starter half-way through the season.

Before we talk about how good he’s been, however, let’s take a second and admire what he did to Luka Doncic tonight:

Yeah. Dunk of the year. Thank the heavens the refs didn’t mess it up even more by not overturning the initial offensive foul call on it.

Aside from detonating on Luka, Wiggins had a phenomenal game, putting up an efficient 27 points and 11 boards while holding Doncic down early - before Luka did Luka things and somehow finished with 40. Two-Way Wiggs has really earned his nickname with how he’s defended the young superstar this series, especially keeping him to just 20 points in Game 1, and he’s been phenomenal through the whole of the playoffs: His stints on Ja Morant alongside Gary Payton II were important in neutralizing him in Games 1 and 3 against the Grizzlies. He’s been locked in on both ends, fitting the puzzle on offense while stepping up huge on defense.

Probably the most important aspect of his season outside of his defense is how Wiggins has been putting a ton of pressure on the rim this series. The Warriors have been at their peak this season when they’ve been able to attack the basket in order to get cleaner looks from the outside, and Wiggins is a huge key to that alongside Jordan Poole and Steph Curry. A specimen of an above-the-rim athlete, the poster was just one of three dunks he had basically in a row tonight, taking advantage of Dallas’ lack of rim protection which cracked the offense open.

We can’t say enough how good Andrew Wiggins has been when this team is in high competition, especially after how his contract was widely considered an albatross when they Warriors acquired him for D’Angelo Russell. He could be playing himself into a max deal with how effective he’s been recently. The good news is he’ll be a Warrior for at least one more year before entering unrestricted free agency. Whether that’s the end of his time here or not remains to be determined, but with how well he’s been doing and how complete a player he is, it’d be a most-welcome sight to see him in the Bay for the long term.

(Photo credit: Cooper Neill / Getty Images)