LOS ANGELES -- Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins is available for Game 6 despite having a left costal cartilage fracture that jeopardized his status for the win-or-go-home showdown with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Wiggins went through his pregame routine to see how his injury at the rib cage felt. He was made active about an hour before the 10 p.m. ET tipoff. Earlier Friday, Wiggins participated in the walkthrough portion of shootaround before getting treatment while the rest of the team went through individual shooting drills.
Coach Steve Kerr said Wiggins suffered the fracture with about five minutes left in Game 5 of the Western Conference playoff series against the Lakers on Wednesday. He was in visible pain in the locker room after the game, sources told ESPN. Wiggins told the team he'd be OK, but an MRI revealed the costal cartilage fracture, according to the sources.
Wiggins' performance in Game 5 was instrumental to the Warriors. He finished with 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting, as well as 7 rebounds and 5 assists, prompting Kerr to call it Wiggins' best game since he returned from a two-month absence at the start of the playoffs.
It was his third-highest-scoring playoff game ever, behind his 27- and 26-point efforts last postseason.
With the Warriors facing elimination once again Friday night, trailing the Lakers 3-2 in the series, Wiggins' void -- both on offense and on defense, where he has been guarding LeBron James -- would have been a massive loss for Golden State.
