Ryan Kang/Associated Press
Golden State Warriors swingman Andre Iguodala will miss his fifth straight game after the team announced Wednesday that Iguodala is out for Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday.
He is expected to be re-evaluated before Game 2.
Iguodala said he expects to return soon, but the recovery process has gone more slowly than anticipated, per Marc J. Spears of ESPN.
Iguodala missed the final four games of the Western Conference Finals while battling a bone bruise. Somewhat tellingly, the Warriors went 2-2 during that time after jumping out to a 2-1 lead when Iguodala was on the court for the start of the series.
The fact that Golden State still clinched the conference title without Iguodala is a testament to the team's depth. There's only so much an opponent can do to combat a roster with Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson.
At the same time, the Warriors are worse when Iguodala is unavailable. According to NBA.com, Golden State's net rating fell from 9.9 to 6.8 when Iguodala went to the bench in the regular season. The gap was even wider in the postseason—from 13.6 to 7.7.
Iguodala could be even more important in the Finals, since he's likely to be the primary defender against Cavaliers star LeBron James.
With Kyrie Irving gone, the Cavaliers need James to be even more of the leader on offense. He's averaging 34.0 points, 9.2 rebounds and 8.8 assists, and his 35.9 percent usage rate is his highest since 2015, which was the Cavs' first Finals appearance after his return, per Basketball Reference.
If Iguodala is out completely or even less than 100 percent, then life will be much easier for James. That would have a domino effect for the rest of the Cleveland roster.
Although Iguodala's injury doesn't single-handedly swing the Finals in Cleveland's favor, it's the kind of break the Cavs need to pull off the upset, much like Stephen Curry's lingering knee injury in the 2016 Finals.