The 31-year-old Australian collided with Cleveland guard J.R. Smith and left during the latter stages of Monday’s 112-97 loss to the Cavaliers. Smith accidentally hit Bogut in the leg when he fell down.
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Bogut immediately grabbed his knee and writhed in pain until play stopped.
An MRI to determine the severity of his injury is slated for Tuesday, but he was initially diagnosed with a left knee sprain, leaving his status for the remainder of the Finals very much in doubt.
“You could look at Bogut’s injury as another thing that sucked energy out of our team, but at the end of the day, those are all semantics”, said Ezeli.
Bogut overextended his left knee after contesting a shot in the third quarter. “But we played four, five different people at center, just trying to find something that would work”. He is averaging 4.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 16.6 minutes per game this postseason.
The Warriors will receive a boost in game six, with power forward Draymond Green playing after serving a one-game suspension for multiple flagrant fouls, and nearly certain to play at centre with Bogut out.
“He just brings so much to the game on both ends, he’s just a real smart basketball player, ” Dellavedova said of Bogut.
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Bogut exited the game with his team trailing the Cleveland Cavaliers 67-64. Cavalier guard Matthew Dellavedova said that the Australia’s Olympic squad really needs Bogut since Ben Simmons chose not play because of the upcoming National Basketball Association draft.
