Forget Mo Speights - the Golden State Warriors are facing an immediate future with far less Speights.
Warriors big man Marreese Speights left Saturday's Game 3 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies with a strained right calf early in the fourth quarter and did not return.
Speights came down favoring his right leg after a fast-break layup with 9:33 remaining in the final period and immediately grabbed his calf area before heading to the locker room. He's set to undergo an MRI on Sunday in order to determine the severity of the injury, but a team source told the San Jose Mercury News that it's unlikely Speights will play in Monday's Game 4.
While Speights's injury is no doubt concerning, the reserve center has logged only 7.3 minutes per game in the Warriors' seven playoff outings. Coming off a strong regular-season showing as a reserve, he likely wouldn't have been left in the game much longer regardless of health, as the Warriors stuck with Draymond Green as the lone big in a supersmall lineup that nearly closed a 15-point deficit.
Speights, who had scored nine points on 3-of-7 shooting in less than six minutes of Game 3 action, has shot 34.5 percent from the field in his limited postseason floor time. He shot 49.2 percent in the regular season, averaging 10.4 points and 4.3 rebounds in 15.9 minutes, the best numbers of his career.
If Speights's availability for the duration of the series is affected, Festus Ezeli and former All-Star David Lee could see additional time. Lee has played just nine postseason minutes and earned a DNP-CD for Game 3. He never quite rediscovered his game and got comfortable in his new role after being usurped by Green in the rotation while missing 24 games early in the year.
It's also possible the Warriors could embrace the smaller look that was relatively effective Saturday, eschewing size and rebounding to try to run Memphis off the floor. Golden State's lineup with Andre Iguodala inserted for Andrew Bogut and Green as the de facto center has outscored Memphis by 13 points in 16 minutes in the series.
