Warriors get embarrassed: Four things to know
By Ian Levy
The Death Lineup is not working
The Warriors’ ‘Death Lineup’ — Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Andre Iguodala, Draymond Green — was a remarkable weapon during the regular season. They played 172 minutes together, outscoring opponents by an average of 47.0 points per 100 possessions. In the 22 minutes they’ve played against the Thunder in the Conference Finals, that group has been been a defensive sieve and absolutely crumbled on offense, outscored by 18.7 points per 100 possessions.
As Matt Moore pointed out, the key in Game 3 was a Thunder small ball unit featuring Serge Ibaka, Kevin Durant, Andre Roberson, Dion Waiters and Russell Westbrook. That group was plus-30 in 12 minutes, winning the small ball battle against the Golden State’s Death Lineup. That lineup played just 46 minutes together for the Thunder during the regular season, getting outscored by 11.2 points per 100 possessions, mostly because of atrocious defense. They had also only played four minutes together in the playoffs before Game 3, getting roughed up badly.
It may be that the Thunder simply caught a wave of Golden State turnovers with the right lineup on the floor to turn them into transition baskets. But you can bet Oklahoma City is going to feel confident about going back to that group as a change of pace if their bigger lineups aren’t working.
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