As expected, Los Angeles Lakers big man Anthony Davis will be active for Game 6 of their Western Conference Semifinals series against the Golden State Warriors Friday evening.
Davis suffered a head injury in Wednesday night’s road loss to Golden State and did not return. Said injury happened with just over seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. At least initially, there was some fear that Davis was dealing with a concussion. Tests between Wednesday and Friday evening made it clear that this was not the case.
As for the defending champion Golden State Warriors, star two-way forward Andrew Wiggins was questionable heading into Game 6 with a cartilage fracture in his ribs. Wiggins suffered the injury late in Game 5 after making contact with LeBron James.
While most figured Davis would be able to go, it was all about pain management for Wiggins. The good news here is that he’s active and looking pretty good during pre-game warmups from Southern California.
Wiggins will be wearing protective padding under his jersey, which could very well impact his shot. However, Golden State is relying as much on his defense against LeBron James as his offense.
Over the course of the first five games of this series, Wiggins is holding James to 17-of-39 shooting and 4-of-18 from three-point range while forcing eight turnovers when the two are matched up against one another.
When another Warriors defender was on King James through the first five games, the Los Angeles Lakers’ star is shooting 49% with just three turnovers. Offensively, Wiggins is the Warriors’ third-leading scorer in the series at 16.8 PPG while shooting 48% from the field.
As for Anthony Davis, he’s been Los Angeles’ most valuable player as the team looks to eliminate Golden State in Game 6.
- Anthony Davis stats (Western Conference Semifinals): 22.4 PPG, 13.4 RPG, 3.4 APG, 2.2 BPG, 58% shooting
One interesting lineup change for the Los Angeles Lakers is Dennis Schroder’s presence in the starting five. The guard replaces Jarred Vanderbilt as head coach Darvin Ham attempts to match Golden State’s small-ball lineup with Gary Payton II once again starting for the Warriors.
Schroder has been darn good thus far in the series. In addition to the Lakers being plus-41 in his minutes over the past three games, the veteran is averaging 12.0 PPG on 52% shooting during that span.
As noted above, the Los Angeles Lakers can eliminate the Golden State Warriors with a win Friday night. If the road team were to come out on top, Game 7 would be back in San Francisco at 3:30 PM ET on Sunday.
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