James Wiseman injury 'not serious'; Warriors rookie expected to play Sunday

Wiseman's injury 'not serious'; he's expected to play Sunday originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea

Warriors fans, you can exhale.

For a moment there, it looked like Golden State lost a lot more than a game Friday night when James Wiseman went down -- and stayed down -- late in the Warriors' 123-98 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers at Chase Center.

Running up the court behind Steph Curry, Wiseman rolled his left ankle, then laid almost motionless on the floor. After the seemingly endless string of terrible injury luck the franchise has experienced over the last 18 months, countless Warriors fans surely assumed the worst.

But thankfully, the No. 2 overall pick avoided that. Following the game, coach Steve Kerr insisted that Wiseman's injury isn't serious and that he expects to have the promising big man available for Sunday's rematch with the Blazers.

Phew.

The Warriors have gotten off to a rocky start to the 2020-21 season, and their brightest spot has been Wiseman, who has exceeded even the most optimistic of expectations five games into his NBA career. He arguably has been their second-best player behind Curry, and they simply cannot afford to lose Wiseman for an extended period of time, particularly with the team short on frontcourt depth in the wake of Marquese Chriss' season-ending injury.

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Following the loss, Wiseman provided some reassurance that he should be all right.

So, breathe, Warriors fans. Friday's game wasn't pretty, but it wasn't nearly as ugly as it could have been.

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