The Whiteboard: Warriors have a small-ball advantage on the Lakers

The Golden State Warriors took a crucial game from the Los Angeles Lakers Tuesday night, 134-120. The win put them just a half-game behind the Lakers for the No. 9 seed and the right to host a potential winner-take-all matchup in the Play-In Tournament. The win also gave the Warriors the crucial tie-breaker over the Lakers in the case of them finishing with identical records.

The Warriors' shooting was the big story in this win — 26-of-41 (63.4 percent) from beyond the arc, including 16-of-23 (69.6 percent) from Draymond Green, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. but nearly as significant was the Warriors' ability to leverage the absence of Anthony Davis and overwhelm the Lakers with their small-ball lineups.

The Warriors still have a small ball advantage

One of the defining features of the Warriors' dynastic success was their so-called Death Lineup, featuring Curry and Thompson, Green at center and versatile wings like Andre Iguodala, Kevin Durant, Harrison Barnes and, eventually, Andrew Wiggins.

Green's unique defensive versatility held things together and whoever surrounded him on the wing usually added a strong defensive presence. On offense, they were overloaded with shooting and playmaking. Things have been a bit different this year with Green in and out of the lineup and Wiggins struggling but, quietly, the small ball lineups have continued to dominate.

Against the Lakers, the Warriors used lineups with Green as the only big for 21 minutes, outscoring Los Angeles by an average of 40.5 points per 100 possessions. Across the entire season, they've used those lineups for 890 minutes, outscoring opponents by an average of 8.0 points per 100 possessions. That's nowhere near the level of effectiveness of those lineups in their prime, but it's still an extremely valuable rotation option for a team that has outscored opponents by just 2.4 points per 100 possessions across the entire season.

What's interesting is that the Warriors have slightly more depth and possible variations of these lineups than they've had in the past. Jonathan Kuminga and Wiggins are the standard wings flanking Green but Chris Paul, Gary Payton II and Brandin Podziemski give the Warriors slightly more backcourt options. Against the Lakers, they used five different variations for four or more minutes and all five had a positive point differential.

The big question is whether they can sustain this same level of small ball success against the Lakers with Davis in that hypothetical Play-In matchup, or in potential matchups against bigs like Rudy Gobert, Nikola Jokic, Domantas Sabonis that might come after.

Although it's a much smaller sample, they've had success in those situations. So far this season they've used small ball lineups for 129 minutes in games where either Davis, Gobert, Jokic, Sabonis or Karl-Anthony Towns were on the floor. They have outscored opponents by 5.9 points per 100 possessions in those minutes. Limit it to just the Lakers with Davis, and they're plus-24.1 points per 100 possessions in 61 minutes.

We're not even guaranteed to get this Warriors vs. Lakers matchup but if it does work out, Golden State has to feel very good about this recipe for success.

Subscribe to The Whiteboard, FanSided's daily email newsletter on everything basketball. If you like The Whiteboard, share it with someone you love! If you don't like The Whiteboard, share it with someone you loathe!

Recommended Reading:

1. March Madness is over and workout season starts now: "Another major March Madness winner is Zach Edey, who cemented his status as a college basketball legend with one of the best tournament runs in NCAA history. Purdue fell short, but Edey assuaged a lot of NBA-level concerns and offered a staunch reminder of his immense talent. Dalton Knecht was blisteringly hot for Tennessee. Jared McCain really stepped into the spotlight for Duke. And, of course, it wouldn't be March without a spate high-performing upperclassmen. Tristan da Silva and Tyler Kolek shined in their abbreviated runs." 2024 NBA Draft Big Board: Donovan Clingan, Zach Edey headline March Madness risers

2. What's next for Bronny James: "'Bronny is nowhere near ready,' an NBA general manager told The Ringer. 'He should go back to school to develop at his own pace or he risks getting lost in the shuffle, whether or not he’s playing with his dad.'" An Honest Scouting Report of Bronny James

3. There are no open shots when Victor Wembanyama is on the floor: "According to Synergy data, 86 percent of the 3-pointers that Wembanyama has contested fall into that “wide open” label, one of the “worst” rates in the league. In other words, when opposing players take shots, he’s rarely considered “close” enough to them to affect them. But the league is shooting slightly less than 36 percent on “wide open” 3s that he has contested, noticeably lower than the 39.2 percent league average. In other words, a “wide open” 3 isn’t wide open when Wembanyama contests it." The ‘humbling experience’ of trying to shoot over Victor Wembanyama