Bogut, Mozgov ride the pine; 'Not a series for bigs'
After the Golden State Warriors' 104-91 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 5 of the NBA Finals Sunday night, coach Steve Kerr offered a truism.
"It's not a series for bigs," he told reporters. "This is a small series. We're comfortable with this style."
Kerr was specifically referring to the DNP-CD that center Andrew Bogut received in Game 5, after only playing three minutes in the Dubs' Game 4 win. For the second straight game, Kerr started Andre Iguodala as a third wing. Golden State won both contests by an average of 17 points.
Bogut, for his part, is keenly aware that his floor time in the series is probably over, telling reporters Saturday that he expects to sit.
"Look, we're not in a position to sit here and pout over things. We're all professionals," Bogut said. "Hopefully, we'll get a ring doing it."
It's noteworthy how quickly things can change in the NBA.
Two years ago, people were losing their minds when Hibbert/Duncan sat for huge possessions. No, no one blinks when Bogut sits entire game.
— Eric Koreen (@ekoreen) June 15, 2015
Cleveland Cavaliers coach David Blatt also sat center Timofey Mozgov in the second half of Game 5, opting to match the Warriors by going smaller with J.R. Smith. Three nights after leading the Cavs with 28 points, Mozgov only played nine minutes.
The move didn't pay off for Cleveland, however, and Blatt told reporters afterwards that Mozgov will play again in the series.
"Did I make a mistake?" Blatt said Sunday night. "Listen, when you're coaching a game, you've got to make decisions. I felt that the best chance for us to stay in the game and to have a chance to win was to play it the way that we played it."
The Russian seven-footer has averaged 13.4 points and 6.6 rebounds, and a block a game in the Finals.