Andrew Wiggins hinted that he wasn’t 100 percent during his postgame press conference on Wednesday night. After putting together his best performance in the playoffs since returning from a two-month personal absence, Wiggins told reporters he wasn’t feeling “fresh.”
“I feel good. I feel like everyone at this point in the season's all banged up and bruised,” Wiggins said. “But I feel good. Not fresh, but good enough to compete and try to get another title.”
Wiggins played nearly 36 minutes in Wednesday’s 121-106 Game 5 win and stayed on the floor until garbage time with 2:24 remaining. But he popped up on the team’s injury report Thursday with a fractured rib and will be listed as questionable for Friday’s 7 p.m. PT tip-off in Game 6 against the Lakers.
Anthony Slater of The Athletic shared a video of the play where Wiggins may have got injured, as he collided with LeBron James with about five minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Wiggs has been key in helping keep a lid on LeBron this series. While James is still putting up solid splits (23.6 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 4.8 APG), he hasn’t completely taken over a game or dominated. We’ve seen Wiggins slow down players like Luka Doncic and Jayson Tatum in last year’s playoffs, now his assignment is one of the GOATs.
“Wiggs, we ask so much of him defensively and in any playoff series he's going to end up on the opponents' best wing player,” coach Steve Kerr said. “So in this series that's obviously LeBron. And thank God we've got Wiggs, because he can play all night, he can pressure up the court, he can guard in the half court and stay in front of people.”
And yet, the Lakers hold a 3-2 series lead.
Los Angeles couldn’t end the Warriors’ season on Wednesday. Wiggins elevated his game to 2022 playoff levels, making a huge impact on both sides of the floor. He scored 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting with seven rebounds and five assists.
Golden State is better when Wiggs is attacking the rim and crashing the glass. Especially in a series where Steph Curry has done all the heavy lifting while Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole have struggled.
“This was the best game Wiggs has played since he's been back over, I guess, three weeks or so now,” Kerr said. “Just the way he attacked, the way he got to the rim. That adds another dimension to our attack. I thought the last couple games in L.A. we just didn't get to the line a ton. We settled for a lot of stuff. I thought Wiggs did a good job of really being aggressive.”
Wiggs agreed with his coach’s assessment and said he needed some time to get back in a rhythm.
“I feel like it's probably been my best game back,” Wiggins said. “Just all around, defensively, offensively and just doing things, push forward and get the win.”
While his scoring was huge, that can be made up with big nights from Klay or Poole. If Wiggins is to miss Game 6, his defense on LeBron would be the asset that’s irreplaceable.
The Warriors fought through adversity without a suspended Draymond Green in Game 3 of the Kings series, but losing Wiggins for Game 6 with the season on the line would be devastating.
“He is sometimes our second scorer, sometimes our third scorer, depending on the night,” Draymond said Wednesday night. “And we always need that aggressiveness. I also thought his aggressiveness on the defensive side of the ball was great as well. He met force with force, put up a lot of resistance. Two-way Wiggs. When he's playing like that, we're very tough to beat.”
For the Lakers, big man Anthony Davis is listed as probable after being evaluated for a concussion and using a wheelchair to get to the locker room Wednesday night, after getting dinged by Warriors big man Kevon Looney.
If Wiggins is unable to play, expect more minutes from second-year player Moses Moody. Perhaps we'll finally see Jonathan Kuminga -- who has been held out of the playoff rotation so far.
