When Andrew Wiggins stepped away from the Golden State Warriors in the middle of the season to deal with a personal matter, there were major questions being asked in regards to if he would return at all this year. Wiggins ultimately returned to begin the playoffs for the Warriors and the All-Star forward has looked fantastic in the postseason.
Playing really well against the Sacramento Kings in Golden State's first-round series, Wiggins started off slow against the Los Angeles Lakers in their current Western Conference Semifinals series. With their backs up against the wall in Game 5 on Wednesday night though, Wiggins scored 25 points, the most he has scored in the playoffs this year, also recording seven rebounds and five assists as well. This was an elite-level performance by the Warriors' wing and head coach Steve Kerr acknowledged this after the game.
“This was the best game Wiggs has played since he's been back over the last three weeks now,” Kerr said in his postgame remarks. “Just the way he attacked, the way he got to the rim, that's another dimension to our attack. I thought the last couple of games, we didn't get to the line a ton and we settled for a lot of stuff and I thought Wiggs did a good job of really being aggressive.”
Proving to be an essential part of their championship team a season ago between his scoring, rebounding and defensive abilities out on the wing, Andrew Wiggins has continued to make an impact for the Warriors this postseason. Other than scoring 11 points in Game 2 of this series, Wiggins has scored at least 15 points in every game against the Lakers in the playoffs and has steadily increased his production since his lackluster 11-point game.
In this series, Wiggins is now averaging 16.8 points and 6.0 rebounds per game while shooting 47.7 percent from the floor and 37.5 percent from three-point range. Defense may not always show up in the box scores, but his impact on that end of the floor may just be the greatest, as Wiggins has been responsible for guarding the likes of LeBron James and Anthony Davis over the course of the series.
“We have a talented team,” Wiggins said after the game. “We have a lot of guys that can put the ball up and score the ball, so I just asserted myself. Being aggressive from the start and making my presence known.”
Responding to his coach's comments on his play, Wiggins kept things short and sweet by stating Game 5 was probably his best all-around game since being back and the only thing that matters was getting the win.
The Warriors have forced a Game 6 in Los Angeles by winning on Wednesday night and they will be looking to force a decisive Game 7 in this series with a potential victory over the Lakers on Friday night.
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