SAN FRANCISCO – With 4:23 remaining in the second quarter Saturday night and the Warriors trailing by one, coach Steve Kerr unleashed the dragons.
That’s when the youngest of them, 22-year-old Jordan Poole, entered the game. He joined veterans Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green. This is the lineup, rich with offensive potential, that the Warriors and their fans have been waiting to see, and it immediately breathed fire upon the Nuggets.
“It’s pretty lethal,” said Poole, who scored a game-high 30 points, 14 which came in the pivotal second quarter.
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With Poole the primary ball-handler, that group outscored Denver 18-6 over the final minutes of the half, building an 11-point lead and generating the momentum for a 123-107 victory in Game 1 of the first-round Western Conference playoff series before a sellout crowd (18,064) at Chase Center.
“You get a lot of floor spacing,” Kerr said. “You get two playmakers, with Steph and Jordan, and you get Draymond at the five where he's most effective, where he can do his thing in terms of DHOs and being a great screener. Diving into the pocket, catching the ball, playmaking himself.
“It's a good lineup. It's kind of what we've always done here depending on personnel but going to Draymond at the five and trying to spread the floor. It's fun to see it.”
The lineup utilizes three guards, so it lacks the size and length of the vaunted “Death Lineups” of yore. DL 1 featured Andre Iguodala, Harrison Barnes, Curry, Thompson and Green; Kevin Durant replaced Barnes in the second and appreciably more dangerous version.
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For this version, Wiggins and Poole essentially replace Iguodala and Durant. There is a substantial loss of size, defense and postseason experience, but much of that is offset by scoring proficiency and floor balance.
The biggest difference is this version has two dual-threat guards, Curry and Poole, creative passers and dynamic scorers on or off the ball. Thompson might be the best catch-and-shoot guard of all time. Wiggins can shoot the 3-ball but also slash his way to the rim. Green’s primary role is to ensure the defense holds up and use his orchestration skills to lubricate the offense.
“When you look at it on paper, what we all can do, there's just a lot of space on the floor,” said Curry, who scored 16 points in 22 minutes in his first action since March 16. “A lot of shooting, a lot of playmaking. If we can defend and rebound, you push in transition, it's really hard to guard us.
“Technically, I guess we are undersize, but you have to bring a defensive force and effort and energy, and then you can again just turn it into an advantage on the other end of the floor.”
The teams kept it tight through the first 20 minutes, staying within six points. Poole’s entrance changed the temperature in the building. He scored six points in 23 seconds, followed by a layup and a 3-ball from Thompson, followed by five points from Curry and two from Wiggins to close the half.
The Nuggets never got closer than eight in the second half – never closer than 16 in the fourth quarter.
The key to the lineup is the emergence of Poole, who scored a game-high 30 points – including 14 in 10 second-quarter minutes. He won the vets over with comprehensive skills, his unfailing confidence and his blue-collar work ethic.
“Seeing JP be able to make plays in the pick-and-roll with me and Klay spaced and Draymond setting and Wiggs slashing,” Curry said, “it checks a lot of boxes on the list of what would you want for a potent offensive lineup.”
This lineup can do wonders in four-to-six-minute spells, maybe as much as 20 minutes per game. To ask 30 minutes is too much. The same was true of the previous blitzkrieg squads, primarily because it’s unreasonable to play Draymond at center for 30 minutes.
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The Warriors don’t have to, though. At least not in this series. Though Draymond was most responsible for Denver getting an unexceptional game center Nikola Jokic, the reigning MVP, Nemanja Bjelica submitted a solid 15 minutes at center. Otto Porter Jr. played 25 minutes, including a couple at center.
That’s sufficient against an average big man of limited mobility, like Jokic. Draymond can get the breathers he will need.
As long as the Warriors’ offense is raining fire, as it did in Game 1 – 18 points in a little more than three minutes – the opposing center might be the least of their troubles.