Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins reportedly is going to try to play in Game 6 against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night.
Wiggins, who is dealing with a rib injury, participated in the walk-through portion of the team’s shootaround and is expected to attempt to give it a go in Game 6.
It’s a gutsy move by Wiggins, but it shows just how badly he wants to be on the floor with the Warriors’ season on the line.
Golden State fell behind 3-1 against the Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals, but it won Game 5 at home to face a Game 6 at Crypto.com Arena on Friday night. Including their play-in tournament win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Lakers are a perfect 6-0 at home this postseason.
It will be an uphill battle for Wiggins and the Warriors, but the team did win three games in a row against the Sacramento Kings in the first round of the playoffs. Golden State needs to do that again to win the series against Los Angeles.
Wiggins missed time in the 2022-23 regular season due to a personal matter, but he returned in time for the playoffs. He’s been one of Golden State’s best defensive players, and he was crucial for the team last season when it won the NBA Finals.
This postseason, Wiggins has played in all 12 of Golden State’s games, starting 11 of them. He’s averaging 17.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 46.8 percent from the field and 31.1 percent from beyond the arc.
If Wiggins is limited in terms of his minutes, the Warriors will likely turn to players such as Donte DiVincenzo, Moses Moody and Gary Payton II to eat up some of his minutes. It’s also possible that youngster Jonathan Kuminga could factor into the rotation as well.
Wiggins has been one of the Warriors players that has drawn the assignment of guarding LeBron James, so it will be interesting to see how Golden State decides to match up against the Lakers with Wiggins seemingly at less than 100 percent.
Game 6 between the Warriors and Lakers is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. PST.
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