When Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut went down clutching his knee during Monday night’s Game 5, the organization held their collective breath. On Wednesday, the team made it public that Bogut will miss the rest of the NBA Finals with a knee injury.
However, they can breath a bit easier long-term, as the injury won’t require surgery and is diagnosed as bone bruises to his proximal tibia and distal femur — two major bones in the leg. Instead of surgery, he is expected to miss six to eight weeks with the injury.
The injury happened as Bogut was attempting to defend a shot by Cleveland Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith, who banged in to Bogut’s fully extended knee. As the Warriors’ big man left the court he could barely put any pressure on his right leg due to the injury.
Bogut’s role, while important, has been diminishing as of late in this series. He is only averaging 12 minutes per game, along with 3.2 points and three rebounds per game in this series alone.
The injury couldn’t come at worst time for the veteran, who will be in his final year of his contract next season and is scheduled to make $11 million.
As for the Warriors’ plans without Bogut? They’ll likely look to start Draymond Green at center and bring on Andre Igoudala or turn to Bogut’s backup, Festus Ezeli, when the two teams return to action in Cleveland on Thursday.
What will be most likely missed is Bogut’s defense around the rim, and even with the diminished minutes in this series he is clearly important enough to the team to continue as the starter.
Changing up something as simple as the rotation of players can really mess with a team during a postseason run, and with the Warriors just one game away from clinching back-to-back NBA titles, this could be an interesting turn of events.
[ESPN]
