Warriors to be without Marreese Speights for at least 1 week due to calf strain

So much for playoff #FullSquad.

The Golden State Warriors will be without Marreese Speights when they try to even their Western Conference semifinal series against the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday.

Speights suffered a strained right calf in the fourth quarter of Sunday's Game 3 loss, coming up awkwardly after a fast-break layup, and was unable to return to the game. The Warriors announced Sunday that Speights will miss Game 4 following an MRI, and he won't be reevaluated for a week, putting his status for the entire series in question.

While any injury in a playoff series matters, especially when the team's down 2-1, Speights has been used sparingly in the postseason. After averaging 15.9 minutes in the regular season, Speights has played less than half that amount in seven playoff games, shooting 34.5 percent in 7.3 minutes per game.

The Warriors have the frontcourt depth to withstand Speights's absence, but that's only really true if David Lee can give the team meaningful minutes. The former All-Star has been relegated to a deep reserve role this season thanks to injuries, ineffectiveness and the emergence of Draymond Green in his former spot as starting power forward.

Lee said he expected to play more against the Grizzlies due to their size, but he's totaled nine minutes through three games. Festus Ezeli stands as an option to see more time as well, and head coach Steve Kerr may be inclined to deploy a small-ball lineup that was extremely effective in making a near-comeback on Sunday.

The lineup of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Andre Iguodala and Green has outscored Memphis by 13 points in 16 minutes in the series. While that group may have trouble in the post and on the glass against Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, they caused a great deal of havoc when unleashed for Game 3. It's an option in small minutes, at least, if Kerr doesn't trust his backup bigs.