With Stephen Curry in an uncharacteristic slump, the Boston Celtics had an incredible chance to win a game in Golden State and give themselves a shot at the title at home in Game 6. However, the man that was instrumental in giving Golden State the win and the advantage in the series wasn’t any of the usual suspects like Curry or Klay Thompson. Their savior ended up being Andrew Wiggins.
Wiggins dominated on both ends of the court, scoring 26 points and grabbing 13 rebounds during the game, with most of his plays coming in a very timely fashion to keep Golden State ahead of or connected with the Celtics. He outshone all the other stars on the court, including Celtics duo Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, both of whom are widely considered to be better than him.
Bill Simmons spoke on his podcast after the game and gave praise to Wiggins while commiserating with other Boston fans and also taking something of a shot at Brown.
“Were going to have a Boston pity party. I’ve been doing podcasts this whole time. I’ve been super reliable. Every once in a while you just have to hear us have a complete meltdown… What changed these last two games? I sketched this out in the solid 6 minutes.
“Biggest thing to me is Wiggins. Wiggins in the last two games is 17 (pts) and 16 (rebs) in game 4 and then in game 5 26 (pts) and 13 (rebs). He was the best player on the floor. He looked the guy I thought Jaylen Brown was going to be coming into the playoffs. So just quickly, that was not a variable we were kind of expecting. Right?”
Wiggins’ play has been so good these past two games that narratives are being started about a possible Finals MVP, although Curry should have that award on lock if the Warriors win. In any case, Wiggins isn’t too far behind either. His two-way play has been instrumental for the Warriors and if they do close the series out, he should get his due praise for being one of their best players during the series.
