Its already clear that the Golden State Warriors are better this season than they were when they won the NBA title last season. Theyre off to a 15-0 start and can break the leagues record for the best opening ever with a win Tuesday against the lowly Los Angeles Lakers. Almost everything else about the team has improved, too. Stephen Curry is even shooting bettersomething that didnt seem humanly possible.
But what really makes the Warriors unstoppable is a lineup they bust out only when they have to. This lineup is the Warriors cheat code. No one in the NBA has figured out how to beat it, because the NBA has never seen anything like it.
The deadly lineup consists of five playersCurry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Harrison Barnes and Draymond Greenwho are all shooting threats and shorter than 6-foot-8. This small-ball unit, in which the shooting guard is the same size as the center, has scored a total of 200 points in 56 minutes this year. That is silly. This lineup also has been 70.8 points per 100 possessions better than whatever the other team puts on the court. That is sillier. Since the NBA started tracking these statistics in 2008, no lineup with at least 100 minutes has had a net rating better than 36 points, let alone anything in the same area code as 70 points.
The person who is most responsible for the Warriors unleashing this weapon may be the only NBA player who can do anything about it: LeBron James. Golden State used this lineup for only 102 total minutes on its way to a 67-15 record last season. But then came the NBA Finals, when Jamess brilliance made the Warriors tweak their strategy after falling behind two games to one. They turned to their small lineup to start the game. They didnt lose again.
They still havent. This lineup has proven especially useful for the Warriors in an emergency. In a game against the Los Angeles Clippers last week, for example, the Warriors were down 10 in the fourth quarter when their superhero lineup assembled. It ticked off a remarkable 25-6 run to win the game.
The same thing happened when Golden State tied the NBA record Sunday. The Warriors were down one in the second quarter. They went small, and they were up nine two minutes later. But the first half was the last time this lineup played that night. Golden State was up by enough in the fourth quarter that it wasnt necessary.
Source: http://www.wsj.com/articles/golden-state-warriors-attack-of-the-killer-shrimp-1448322930
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