CLEVELAND -- The pain and the sound left Warriors big man Andrew Bogut feeling he might have sustained a serious knee injury Monday night in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
“I thought I blew out my knee,” Bogut said Thursday after shootaround. “Just the pain that I had. I’ve had those injuries before. I heard two cracks; that’s the bone-on-bone. It’s not worth much, but it could have been worse than it is.”
Bogut’s injury occurred after he blocked a shot by Cleveland guard JR Smith, who afterward fell into Bogut’s planted left leg. Bogut immediately fell to the floor clutching his knee and writhing in pain. He was diagnosed with a two separate bone bruises and will need at least six weeks to recover.
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Asked if he thought the injury was the result of a “basketball play,” Bogut was less than definitive.
“I don’t know,” he said. “It’s a tough play. I don’t know how he fell and all of that. I don’t know. It’s open for interpretation.”
Bogut conceded that his chances of representing Australia in the Summer Olympics are in serious jeopardy.
As for the Warriors, though, he thinks they’ll do just fine without him.
Golden State Warriors
“I think we’ll be fine,” he said. “It’s a small-ball series predominantly anyway. Myself, Festus (Ezeli) and Andy (Varejao) were kind of sharing 15 minutes, 20 minutes a game. Getting Draymond (Green) back is big key for us. I think we’ll be good.”