The Golden State Warriors will be playing in their first NBA Cup quarterfinal on Wednesday, having been eliminated in the group stage of last year's inaugural tournament.
The Warriors will battle the Houston Rockets for the third time this season, with the winner to play the Oklahoma City Thunder in Las Vegas after they accounted for the Dallas Mavericks 118-104 in their quarterfinal on Tuesday.
Andrew Wiggins is questionable for Wednesday's NBA Cup quarterfinal
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Playing without Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, Golden State got an impressive 99-93 victory over the Rockets at Chase Center last Thursday. Andrew Wiggins battled through an ankle issue to record an important 23 points in the six-point win, but has since missed the last six quarters becuase of the injury.
The 2022 All-Star left Friday's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at the start of the third-quarter, before missing Sunday's win over the same opponent. Wiggins is now questionable to face the Rockets on Wednesday according to the official injury report, but there's a far more positive update from head coach Steve Kerr.
“Andrew is ready to go,” [Kerr told NBC Sports Bay Area's Dalton Johnson](https://www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/nba/golden-state-warriors/andrew-wiggins-houston-rockets-nba-cup/1812315/) on Tuesday. _“Had a full practice today, he looked good.”_
That's incredibly good news for the Warriors and Wiggins who has returned back toward his best form this season. The Canadian has been Golden State's second leading scorer so far, averaging 17.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists on 42.7% shooting from 3-point range. It's not so good news for Moses Moody who's already been ruled out of the game with a knee injury.
Houston have a quartet of players that are also questionable for the quarterfinal at Toyota Center, including starting center Alperun Sengun who's dealing with knee soreness. Backup center Steven Adams is also questionable, and so too are Jae'Sean Tate and Cam Whitmore.
Importantly for the Rockets, forward Tari Eason is out of concussion protocols that saw him miss the last two games including last Thursday's matchup with the Warriors. The 23-year-old had a huge 27 points, nine rebounds, four steals and three blocks in the teams' first matchup on November 2, only for Golden State to survive in overtime after surrendering a 30-point lead in regulation.
The Warriors are looking to extend their 15 consecutive wins against the Rockets that dates back to February 2020. A win may be just as important for the sake of the Western Conference standings than it is earning a trip to Vegas, with Houston currently 1.5 games ahead of Golden State.
If the Warriors lose to the Rockets for the first time in 16 meetings, they'll host Klay Thompson and the Dallas Mavericks at Chase Center on Sunday.