The Golden State Warriors made a starting lineup before their last game, inserting Trayce-Jackson Davis and Chris Paul into the first five, replacing Kevon Looney and Brandin Podziemski. While the Warriors did not win the game, head coach Steve Kerr wants to see more of this five, telling the media he plans to stick with it for now.
When asked after the Dallas game why he went with that starting group, Kerr said, “We’re looking for a boost defensively. The last couple weeks with that starting group, the defensive numbers really weren’t great… We were looking for better defense from the start, and wanted to get Steph more involved as well. We felt like getting Chris on the floor would maybe unlock Steph a little bit.”
While this didn’t play out the way Golden State hoped it would in that game, Kerr wants to see more of this group going forward. There are definitely some upsides to this five-man lineup, but there are also some holes as well.
The backcourt defense of Curry and Paul is difficult to sustain, especially when anchored by a rookie center. While Jackson-Davis is very talented vertically, he can still become prone to foul trouble, which can be even more prevalent when there isn’t much perimeter resistance from the guards.
The bottom line right now for Golden State is that there is no perfect answer as currently constructed, so Kerr is searching for answers.
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