Wiggins questionable for Game 6 with a rib injury

The Warriors' path to forcing a Game 7 just got a whole lot more difficult.

Andrew Wiggins was listed as questionable with rib cartilage fracture on Golden State's injury report Thursday evening ahead of tonight's Game 6 against the Lakers.

There was no word on how he suffered the injury.

Wiggins' scoring was crucial to the Warriors' Game 5 win on Wednesday. He scored 25 points as the beneficiary to Golden State's strategy to force Anthony Davis out of the paint on ballscreen actions. He also had seven rebounds and five assists.

He's a linchpin of the defense as the Warriors' primary defender on LeBron James.

Wiggins may be able to play through the pain, but would certainly miss time if this was the regular season. Kevin Durant missed two weeks with a similar injury in 2018.

“It's really about pain relief if an athlete can return to play since this area helps with expanding the rib cage, absorbing trauma,” said Dr. Nirav Pandya, an orthopedic surgeon at UCSF. “They could potentially try an injection to the area for pain relief but that has its risks as well. There is also a risk of making it worse but there are various braces or padding they can use.”

Pandya adds that the padding is easier to use for football players who can put the extra protection under their regular pads. It may be more difficult for basketball players, who wear no pads.

Kevon Looney also suffered a costal cartilage fracture in Game 2 of the 2019 Finals against Toronto and was expected to miss the rest of the postseason. He returned for Game 4 and played 27 minutes in their Game 6 loss.

The Warriors are down 3-2 in the Western Conference semifinals headed back to L.A. for Game 6.