Generally speaking, the NBA has an unhealthy obsession with lineups. There is a level of discourse over who starts and who doesn’t that at times borders on insanity.
But with a Warriors team that put themselves in such brutal, disadvantageous positions early in every game this series, and facing a must-win Game 6, it was paramount to their success to get the starting lineup right.
In hindsight, slotting in Kevon Looney was a maddeningly obvious choice. He is the Warriors’ only true center. They struggled with the Grizzlies’ size all series. Throw the tall guy in there, duh.
Jonathan Kuminga, who logged zero minutes in Game 6 after starting the three prior games, looked erratic and a lot like the 19-year-old, a trying-too-hard rookie he still is in those starts.
So on Friday, Golden State opted for good ole, straightforward basketball. They started all five players at their “correct” positions, going with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney.
It’s the lineup that makes the most sense, especially with Jordan Poole still out of control and looking more like his over-dribbling self than the should-have-been Most Improved Player.
With the Warriors needing to emphasize physicality and defensive effort, going simple was the remedy to their inability to match up well in the prior two games.
And of course that decision came from the Warriors’ veterans, Curry and Green.
Fill-in head coach Mike Brown, who has seemed a tad frazzled by the whole situation, said after the game that it was those two who campaigned for Looney to start Game 6. Curry said those discussions began as early as Game 5, with the Warriors’ vets having a bit too much time on their hands in that blowout loss.
“It was just a feel of how the series changed after Steven Adams came back after Game 3 and his impact Game 4, 5, that we needed to start with some size, kind of counter that,” Curry said. “Knowing that we could figure out the offensive end and get to some different patterns and make adjustments on that end of the floor.
“It would give us a chance to take that physicality that they were coming at us with, get off to a better start defensively and settle into the game. We finally won a first quarter.”
That, they did.
After a 4-0 Memphis start that threatened to become the 8-0 start they seemed to get out to by default, there was a Warriors response.
Green made sure to credit the “loudest” Chase Center crowd he says he’s ever heard, and there was an element of their encouragement from the jump that seemed to make a difference. Golden State snapped into focus for their own 8-0 run and finished the quarter reckless but with a 30-26 lead.
Now, this was clearly not a seamless victory, but it was impressive in how an aging Warriors team matched the challenge presented by Memphis’ relentlessly energetic and youth-heavy lineup.
Looney’s start provided a bona fide center role that at times has been filled by Green and the currently-injured Otto Porter Jr. He rose to the task in a way that few could have predicted.
He’s always been an effective, net positive player, but he was closer to Dennis Rodman than his usual, under-the-radar, screen-and-rebound self. Klay Thompson called him “Kevon Loo-ajuwon.”
He bullied a Grizzlies group with the likes of Steven Adams, Brandon Clarke and Jaren Jackson Jr. to the tune of a career-high 22 rebounds, split evenly on either end.
As a team, Golden State out-rebounded Memphis 70 to 44 and 25 to 10 offensively. Those 70 rebounds are the most by any team this season and the most in a playoff game since 1983. It’s also the first time in NBA history — playoffs or regular season — a team has had that many rebounds and made 20-plus threes.
Brown said he couldn’t quite believe the box score while examining it at the podium.
It was astonishing to watch. Everyone was talking about Game 6 Klay, then Looney quite literally took over the game.
The way he attacked the glass offensively provided the Warriors with extra opportunities they probably didn’t deserve. And by grabbing those extra opportunities, he often found himself in positions to facilitate. He had 5 assists and 4 points in addition to those rebounds.
Those assists were where the Looney-Green symbiosis was found, and where Green’s role resembled his former, vintage self.
At least twice, Looney found Green cutting for exquisitely timed finishes at the rim.
Green was still frustrating with his propensity to ignore the hoop at times, but he was so much more involved offensively. With Poole out of rhythm and Curry struggling with the weight of the defensive burden left behind by the void of Gary Payton II, Green got involved.
He took an early three and while he went 0-for-3 from deep, he at least pretended to be a threat on that end.
He finished with 14 points (6-of-14), 15 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 turnovers. Those 14 points and 14 shot attempts are his most of the playoffs.
When Curry was talking about the Warriors’ ability to adapt offensively, there’s a clear indication that relied on Green looking to score at times. With Looney on the floor, the Warriors couldn’t afford to play 3-on-5 at all times, no matter how excellent Green and Looney are at screening and facilitating from the high post.
Green clearly understood that he had to be more aggressive on that end. That’s not to say he didn’t commit some maddening turnovers, or ignore parted Red Sea-level openings, but he was exponentially more effective than in prior games.
He’s a maniac on fast breaks, and the Warriors were still sickeningly careless in the way they launched the ball to empty space on outlet attempts, turning it over 17 times.
But when it works, boy does it work. That’s the cost of doing business with Green. He can adapt to different situations, but he cannot change the pace and energy he plays with.
Watching him on a fast break is a lot like watching someone try out a backflip for the first time. Either they land it, to everyone’s collective amazement, or it’s a disaster.
In a situation that required him to be more proactive offensively, he met that call, while Looney, the hero he was and is, cleaned up everything else.
While Jordan Poole launched ill-advised attempts (12 points on 4-of-15 shooting) and Curry (29 points on 10-of-27 shooting) struggled to find the range until late, Looney and Green were rebound vacuums.
So, too, was Andrew Wiggins (18 points, 11 rebounds, 3 blocks), as the three formed something of a defensively staunch rebounding triumvirate.
That proactivity from Green helped create better shot attempts for Klay Thompson, who obliged on both ends, adding 8 rebounds of his own and 3 blocks to his 29 points.
Now, Looney won’t and can’t play 35 minutes a night. None of the Warriors’ stars will likely see that sort of load, until things get dire in a Western Conference Finals that will only have one day of rest between each game.
But at the very least, the Warriors’ return to a common sense lineup seemed to remind Green of all the damn good things that happen when he, if only occasionally, looks to the hoop, and how having a real center next to him can provide unique options.