Golden State Warriors: 5 Biggest Questions From 2016 Finals Collapse

4. Was Andrew Bogut’s Injury Significant?

Andrew Bogut was not a major factor in the Warriors’ top-ranked offense during the regular season, as his 5.4 points per contest would indicate. In addition to that, he averaged just three boards per contest in the five Finals games he did play in.

On the other side of this equation, however, it is worth mentioning that he averaged two blocks per game, including five and three rejections, respectively, in Games 2 and 5.

On the surface, it appeared that losing Bogut in Game 5 to a knee injury would not be significant at that point in time.

After all, this was a close out game and the Warriors still had enough talent to beat a seemingly defeated Cavs team that was down 3-1 on their home court, right?

As it turned out, Bogut may have been more valuable than previously thought, as his replacements — Festus Ezeli and Anderson Varejao — combined for just five points and four rebounds in that contest.

And in the final two games of the series, it was more of the same, as the duo combined for five points, six rebounds and zero blocks.

Whether Bogut’s injury truly hindered the Warriors’ chances in a series they were expected to win remains to be seen. What is a fact is that the other big men on the roster were unable to provide the same level of production as Bogut, which makes his absence loom larger than ever.

Next: No. 3