Wiseman benched until 4th quarter vs. Clippers for missing COVID-19 tests

Rookie center James Wiseman finished with a solid 14-point, seven-rebound line in the Golden State Warriors' road loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday.

Here's the twist: The 19-year-old did all of his damage in the final frame.

Though the No. 2 overall pick was fully cleared to play, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr benched Wiseman for the first three quarters for missing a pair of COVID-19 tests over the All-Star break.

"This was just a reaction to him missing the test and not being able to practice last night. That hurt us, and so that was the reason he did not play in the first half," Kerr said postgame, according to ESPN's Nick Friedell. "I'm not going to go into any more detail than that because that's private team business, but that was the reason."

Wiseman acknowledged his need for greater focus.

"I made a huge mistake, but I most definitely will not do that again because I just got to make sure that I just be disciplined in terms of that," he said.

Wiseman added: "I made sure that I apologized to coach and told him that I'm not going to do that again and make sure that I pay attention to little stuff like that, just get that done."

The Memphis product has had an up-and-down year. After starting his first 16 pro games, Wiseman lost that role to veteran Kevon Looney in late January. A sprained left wrist kept Wiseman out of action for most of February as he missed 11 total games. He's logged as little as 11:22 of playing time in a single contest since returning on Feb. 23 and as much as 34:35.

Wiseman is averaging 11.9 points, six rebounds, and one block in just 20.5 minutes per game this season. He's also connected on 11-of-28 (39.3%) of his shots from beyond the 3-point arc.