CLEVELAND // Golden State Warriors centre Andrew Bogut will miss the remainder of the NBA Finals with multiple bone bruises in his left knee, the defending NBA champions announced Wednesday.
The Warriors lead Cleveland 3-2 in the best-of-seven series but lost a chance to clinch Monday in Game 5 and will lack their biggest inside man for Game 6 Thursday at Cleveland and a potential Game 7 Sunday back in California.
The Australian 7-footer suffered the injury Monday at Oakland early in the third quarter of Game 4 when leaping to try and block a shot by Cleveland’s JR Smith, who struck Bogut’s leg, causing him to land awkwardly on his left leg.
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He writhed in pain on the court holding his knee until being helped off the court. An MRI exam Tuesday showed the extent of the injury and team doctors spent the day analysing the results.
The Warriors said that Bogut will not require surgery but will need a minimum of six to eight weeks to recover, meaning he could be healthy in time to play for Australia’s Boomers at the Rio Olympics in August.
While Bogut is expected to make a full recovery, it will not be in time to play again against Cleveland.
Bogut blocked six shots in Game 2, the most in a finals game since Pau Gasol in 2010, and averages 3.2 points and 3.0 rebounds in the finals. For the playoffs, Bogut has averaged 4.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists.
The Aussie's absence would partly be offset by the return of forward Draymond Green from a one-game suspension for accumulated flagrant fouls, but still require Golden State to dig deeper into the bench for help.
“We played, I think, four or five different people at centre, just trying to find something that would work,” Kerr said of how he spread time in Game 5 after Bogut’s exit.
Festus Ezeli would likely fill-in for Bogut in the Warriors’ deep rotation of players, with Brazilian big man Anderson Varejao, a long-time Cavaliers centre, being called upon as well.
“Our bigs are just going to have to step up. Been doing it all year,” said Warriors guard Klay Thompson. “We’re still in a great position. We’ll come back stronger.”
No team has won the NBA Finals after trailing 3-1 and only two of 33 such teams, the 1951 New York Knicks and 1966 Los Angeles Lakers, even managed to force a Game 7.
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