The hits just kept on coming for the Golden State Warriors on Monday night.
First Draymond Green was suspended. Then Andrew Bogut left early in the third quarter with a left knee sprain. And then the Warriors lost, forcing them to play a Game 6 in Cleveland on Thursday night.
But let’s go back to Andrew Bogut.
The Warriors didn’t announce until the fourth quarter that he sprained his left knee and would need an MRI:
Andrew Bogut has suffered a left knee sprain and will not return to tonight's game. An MRI is scheduled for later tonight.
— Warriors PR (@WarriorsPR) June 14, 2016
Bogut’s status for Game 6 is subsequently up in the air, per ESPN.com’s Marc Stein:
The Warriors are moving the MRI on Andrew Bogut's left knee, initially planned for tonight, to Tuesday. His Game 6 status remains uncertain.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 14, 2016
Though it seems unlikely Bogut would play at this point, Shaun Livingston came bearing good news after the game, per the Bay Area News Group’s Diamond Leung:
Shaun Livingston on Andrew Bogut: "He was walking and putting pressure on it, so that’s good."
— Diamond Leung (@diamond83) June 14, 2016
With Green on his way back, the Warriors won’t be screwed if they’re forced to play without Bogut. They like to experiment with smaller lineups to begin with, and the combination of Green, Ezeli and Anderson Varejao is more than capable of replacing Bogut’s production. In sum, Game 6 won’t look as bad as Game 5, when James Michael McAdoo was forced into spot center duty after Bogut’s exit.
Still, this latest injury is far from an afterthought.
Andrew Bogut serves a purpose in this series. He is rim protection, rebounding, passing and toughness. The Warriors need him when the Cavaliers run with dual bigs—or simply when the small-ball “Death Squad” isn’t clicking on every cylinder imaginable. Without him in the lineup, given the limitations of Varejao (defense) and Ezeli (offense), it almost pigeonholes the Warriors to playing super small. And while that may not be a bad thing in the end, Golden State is at its best when exploiting all of its options.
Losing Bogut for Game 6 would add an air of predictability to their game plan.
