Warriors officially rule out Marreese Speights for the series
The Memphis Grizzlies are going to be seeing a lot Less Speights, as Mo Speights is done for the series.
The Golden State Warriors officially ruled Speights out for the remainder of their Western Conference semifinal on Wednesday, confirming what had been speculated by the player himself earlier in the week.
Speights suffered a strained right calf in the fourth quarter of Game 3 on Saturday, saying he felt a pop. He was expected to miss at least one week, which would have meant he could only realistically come back for a Game 7 if his recovery went well.
With that no longer a possibility, Speights will expand his role as a cheerleader on the bench and hope to make a return in the Western Conference finals.
"I'm always a cheerleader," Speights said Monday. "Not just when I'm hurt. When I'm playing, I'm a cheerleader, so I'll turn it up on that."
After averaging 15.9 minutes during the regular season, Speights saw his role cut dramatically in the playoffs, averaging 7.3 minutes over seven appearances. He was averaging four points and 2.3 rebounds while shooting 34.5 percent, a far cry from the career-high 10.4 points he averaged during the season on 49.2-percent shooting.
Still, every body matters in what's proven to be a very tight series. The absence of Speights does one of three things: Puts an additional burden on starters Draymond Green and Andrew Bogut, forces head coach Steve Kerr to use effective small-ball lineups he's been cautious about using in heavy doses or means more time for David Lee.
Game 4 saw Lee play a playoff-high 15 minutes, scoring five points with one rebound in the runaway victory. If he can provide double-digit minutes off the bench and not get exploited defensively, the Warriors should be just fine. But Lee hasn't looked himself all season in dealing with multiple injuries and a new role off the bench.
Should Lee struggle, Kerr could make Green the de facto center when Bogut hits the bench, unleashing a speedy lineup that's outscored Memphis by 14 points in 17 minutes of action in this series. That group runs the risk of losing the rebounding battle - they've grabbed 44 percent of available rebounds - but has forced turnovers at an incredible rate and gotten out in transition at will as a result.