With the season hanging in the balance, the Warriors are hopeful that Andrew Wiggins will be able to contribute despite fracture of cartilage in his ribcage.
Wiggins took part in the team's shootaround Friday morning, several hours before the Warriors hosted the Lakers in Game 6 of the Western Conference Semifinals, with Los Angeles holding a 3-2 series lead. Wiggins is officially listed as questionable. He didn't meet with reporters, but his teammates sound like they expect him to be available to play.
"I hope to see Andrew when that clock hits zero and we've got to jump the tip," Payton said. "He's working on it."
Payton also added that the Warriors haven't been practicing as if Wiggins is unavailable. The defensive assignments would change massively, seeing that Wiggins has been taking the lion's share of responsibilities on LeBron James.
"We didn't go over that, hopefully that means Wiggs is ready to go," Payton said. "Hopefully we don't gotta worry about that."
Adrian Wojnarowski also reported on Friday that Wiggins is expected to suit up.
There's never a good time to get injured, but Wiggins is coming off his best performance of the playoffs, as he dropped 25 points and made a huge impact with his aggression on both sides of the floor. But in the fourth quarter he got elbowed by LeBron James and got dinged up.
Even if Wiggs is able to play Friday (and beyond), you have to assume he won't be at full strength. Back in the 2019 NBA Finals, Kevon Looney played through a similar injury, but the big man knows that he and Wiggins use their bodies differently.
"I don't have to shoot the ball," Looney said. "It was more of just a pain tolerance (issue). I was able to get used to the pain, get used to getting hit in that area. I was kinda fine, but I wasn't doing a lot of shooting. I was doing a lot of rebounding and doing what I normally do. It limited a little bit. I got more tired than I normally did."
If Wiggins' playing time is affected, the Warriors have a couple of second-year wings as backups. Moses Moody has been a bench option for coach Steve Kerr in the playoffs while Jonathan Kuminga has fallen out of the rotation, but both guys have to stay ready for an uptick in minutes.
