The Golden State Warriors have built a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals without one key member of their “Hamptons 5.” Veteran wing Andre Iguodala has missed the first two games with a knee injury.
Iguodala may, however, play in Game 3. The forward completed a full workout involving sprinting on Saturday. He is pain-free and will all but certainly return at some point in this series, per a new report from ESPN’s Chris Haynes.
“I aim to play in Game 3, but I’ve aimed to play in Game 2 and Game 3,” Iguodala told ESPN. “We’ll just have to see.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr seems confident Iggy will be back soon.
“I’m optimistic Andre will play at some point in the series,” Kerr said Sunday. “He has gotten better gradually, but there’s no way of knowing for sure at this point.”
Iguodala has missed Golden State’s last six games since suffering the injury in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals against Houston. The injury appeared to occur on the below play.
Something worth monitoring as we move forward: Andre Iguodala grabs at his lower left leg after stealing it away from Harden… pic.twitter.com/ub8kAgeVjK
— Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) May 21, 2018
Iguodala’s Impact
Iguodala claimed the 2015 Finals MVP for his excellent two-way play. He is noted as the Warriors’ best matchup for LeBron James. Critics, however, have challenged that claim. They believe James has torched Iggy just like he torches pretty much everyone else.
.@getnickwright dispels the myth that Andre Iguodala is a "LeBron Stopper" pic.twitter.com/CzL19SliEl
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) May 30, 2018
LeBron has played well through two games. On Sunday, he totaled 29 points, 13 assists, and nine rebounds.
The Warriors, however, were in command from the jump. They pulled away in the second half largely because of Steph Curry, who scored 33 total points, including 16 in the fourth quarter. Curry drained nine threes in the game, a new NBA Finals record.
Game 3 is set for Wednesday at 9 p.m. EST in Cleveland.
