Oakland: Australian Andrew Bogut will start at centre for the two-time defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors after DeMarcus Cousins tore his quad in the team's loss to the LA Clippers, head coach Steve Kerr says.
Bogut, who won a championship with Golden State in 2015, rejoined the team as a back-up in March after a stand-out NBL season with the Sydney Kings.
He will, however, see a lot more play-off action now Cousins is sidelined.
Kerr could have started 23-year-old big man Kevon Looney or forward Draymond Green at centre, but said he was confident in Bogut's abilities.
"I think Bogut will do a great job. He's been great since he's been back," Kerr told reporters ahead of Friday's (AEST) play-off game three, coming after the teams split the first two games of the best-of-seven series.
"This is why we got him – just in case. We were hoping we wouldn't have any injuries obviously, but that was our most vulnerable position.
"We're lucky to have Andrew."
Last month Bogut, 34, said he was happy to just be along for the ride and would be fine waving a towel and cheering his teammates from the bench.
Cousins is not thought to require surgery to repair his injured left quad muscle, which he tore while running down a loose ball in the first half of the Warriors' 135-131 loss to the Clippers in Oakland.
Cousins, who in January made his Warriors debut after a torn Achilles tendon kept him off the court for almost a year, is unlikely to return during the play-offs as Golden State chase a fourth NBA championship in five seasons.
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