12 May 2023 , 22:04
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The Los Angeles Lakers could well be set to be given a huge boost ahead of their Game 6 play-off clash with the Golden State Warriors, thanks to the availability of Andrew Wiggins.
There were question marks surrounding Wiggins' fitness, after the 28-year-old suffered a rib injury in the dying minutes of the Warriors most recent outing in Game 5 against the Lakers. It marred a successful night for the Golden State side, after defeating their rivals 121-106 to claw themselves back into the series.
The Lakers currently find themselves 3-2 ahead, but Game 5's victory no doubt gave the Warriors all the momentum heading into Friday night's clash.
One thing that was set to work in the home team's favour though was the absence of Warriors star man Wiggins due to his ongoing fitness problems. However, In the build-up to Friday evening's game it seems the 28-year-old could well be set to battle through the pain barrier to turn out for the Warriors.
Initially ESPN reported that the 28-year-old participated in a shootaround in practice, and was backed to try his luck in a pre-game warm up. In the hours following, the report has since added that Wiggins will make some attempt to compete at the Crypto.com Arena.
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Andrew Wiggins is in a battle to be fit (AP)Wiggins' Warriors teammate Gary Payton II also remained positive when it came to the Canadian's chances of taking to the court. Asked how his team would cope without Wiggins, Payton responded: ""We didn't go over that, so hopefully that means Wiggs is ready to go.
"Hopefully we don't have to worry about that." Another of Wiggins' teammates in Kevon Looney is aware of exactly what the 28-year-old is going through after suffering a similar injury back in the 2019 finals. Missing just one game when suffering a non-displaced first costal cartilage fracture, he explained per Yahoo : "It's a lot of pain, but once you get in your head that it can't get worse, it's kind of like, 'All right, I can deal with it
"Once I got that confirmation from the doctor that I couldn't get worse, that I couldn't die on the court, I knew I might be able to play through it. I missed a game with it, so had to wait a little for the pain to go down a little bit. I don't know what Wiggs is thinking, but I know it's a lot better."