Forty-five games into the season, Warriors coach Steve Kerr made a huge alteration to his starting lineup for Thursday’s contest against the Boston Celtics.
Kerr went to a small starting five, inserting shifty guard Jordan Poole for reliable big man Kevon Looney. Poole joined Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green in the starting lineup Thursday. While the Warriors ultimately lost to the Celtics 121-118 in overtime of the 2022 NBA Finals rematch, Kerr said Golden State will keep riding with Poole as a starter for the immediate future.
“Just wanted to open up the floor and give us a little different look, maybe get a spark,” Kerr told reporters. “We’re past the halfway point (of the season) and we’re .500. Like, let’s try something different. First time in a while that we’ve had all those guys healthy, too. It’s a lineup that we know can be explosive.”
This move is only made possible by the humility of Looney, the eight-year veteran who has become a key part of the Warriors the last few seasons. Looney had started the first 44 games of this season and has appeared in the Warriors’ last 156 regular-season games, giving him the NBA’s second-longest active games played streak behind Mikal Bridges (355).
The Athletic’s Anthony Slater shared postgame reaction from the Warriors after the big lineup change.
“It’s a credit to Loon being a consummate professional and understanding that he’s so important to what we do,” Curry said. “He’s always ready. I think we’ve showed how fast we can play with that lineup. There’s strengths and weaknesses to it. But we got great shots earlier tonight and came out with a lot of juice. We gotta be better at rebounding.”
Moving Poole to the starting five makes sense, as the fourth-year guard has been much more effective when he’s on the floor to begin the game. In 23 games as a starter this season, Poole is averaging 26.7 points and 34.1 minutes per game. His production dips to 15.2 points and 26.8 minutes per game as a reserve.
Perhaps the biggest question mark about Poole is his ability to defend and handle bigger opponents on switches, but he held up well on Thursday. Poole finished with 24 points on 10-of-25 shooting in 43 minutes of action while also recording six rebounds, four assists and three steals.
“It gives us a bit more of explosiveness,” Poole said. “Being able to space the floor, being able to run in transition. I feel like we’re pretty dangerous in that. If we can guard and we can rebound, while we’re small, I think it’ll give us a new layer. I think everybody knows that unit’s pretty dangerous.”
It is worth noting that Celtics big man Al Horford shredded the Warriors in the first quarter, as he scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds in the frame. Horford is averaging 9.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per game this year but ended up with 20 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks on Thursday. Looney played 20 minutes, scoring just two points but grabbing 12 rebounds.
In all, the quintet played together for about 24 minutes Thursday while posting a minus-1 in collective plus/minus. For the season, the small lineup totes a 0.7 net rating compared to the 19.3 net rating the Warriors have with Looney in the starting five, so there’s room to improve.
“Definitely speeds the game up for us,” Draymond said of the change. “But as far as chemistry and rotations, that still needs to be figured out. We just made the change today.”
