Andrew Bogut is set to take up his familiar role as starting centre on the Golden State Warriors after All-Star big man DeMarcus Cousins was diagnosed with a torn left quad muscle.
Warriors’ medical staff are still determining just how severe the tear is and how long Cousins, who had an MRI on Tuesday, will be out, ESPN reported.
Coach Steve Kerr described the injury on Monday night as “pretty significant” and expected Cousins was going “to be out for a while”.
Bogut, signed out of the NBL by the Warriors last month as Cousins’ back-up, is ready to return to the starting line-up.
“Obviously there will be more minutes,” Bogut said.
“I’ll probably be starting games and playing the first three or four minutes and then coming out.”
The Cousins injury was part of an awful Monday for the defending NBA champions, with the All-Star tearing the muscle in his left leg in the first quarter and then their opponents, the Los Angeles Clippers, pulling off the biggest comeback in NBA playoff history to win game two of the series 135-131 in Oakland.
The best-of-seven series stands at 1-1, with the next two games – Thursday and Saturday – in Los Angeles.
Bogut said the Warriors were furious with themselves for giving up a 31-point lead in the third quarter.
Bogut was the Warriors’ starting centre from 2012 to 2016, winning a title in 2015.
The Australian veteran was traded to the Dallas Mavericks at the end of the 2015-16 season to clear salary cap space to sign All-Star Kevin Durant.
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