With DeMarcus Cousins sidelined indefinitely after suffering a torn left quadriceps muscle in Game 2, Andrew Bogut will start at centre for the Golden State Warriors moving forward, Steve Kerr announced ahead of Game 3.
Kevon Looney and Jordan Bell will likely fill the rest of the minutes left in Cousins' absence.
Andrew Bogut is your new starting center for Warriors, per coach Steve Kerr.
— Monte Poole (@MontePooleNBCS) April 17, 2019
"I anticipate I’ll see more minutes, whether it’s starting or not," Bogut wrote for Yahoo Sports prior to Kerr's announcement. "I assume I’ll be starting and we’ll go over that tomorrow morning with what we do with our lineups, but it’s going to be a bunch of guys stepping up.
"We’ve got that ‘next man up’ mentality and we just need to make sure that everyone’s engaged and ready. You hear the cliche all the time – stay ready – because you never know, and this is a prime example of that."
It's not unfamiliar territory for Bogut, though it's been a while. He last played for the Warriors in 2015-16, when he started in 66 regular season games and all 22 of their postseason games.
He also started in 18 of their 21 playoff games in 2015, when they won the title.
Bogut is averaging 3.0 points (66.7% FG), 5.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.0 blocks through two games against the LA Clippers. He played 16 minutes in Game 2 after logging only two minutes in Game 1.
