The Golden State Warriors need a spark, and no one is more aware of that than their head coach Steve Kerr.
For the first time this season, Kerr decided to make a change to his starting lineup.
Instead of Kevon Looney starting at center, Kerr put Jordan Poole in for Looney and the Warriors went small.
Despite the new lineup not resulting in a win on Thursday, the Warriors outplayed the Celtics for 3.5 quarters.
Kerr has announced that the starting lineup of Steph Curry, Jordan Poole, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, and Draymond Green will be their five moving forward.
Steve Kerr said he intends to keep starting small — Jordan Poole in place of Kevon Looney. Said he’s searching for a spark. pic.twitter.com/G7WEwPC3aQ
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) January 20, 2023
Golden State has a record of 22-23 on the season, and that is not good enough for the defending world champions.
But, this new starting lineup is far more explosive and will be very tough to guard for opposing defenses.
This lineup is offensively focused as their tallest player is Wiggins at 6-foot-7.
Wiggins and Green will have to be their defensive anchors as Curry, Poole, and Thompson carry the offensive load.
It will be interesting to see how this lineup works because the Warriors have struggled defensively this year.
So for them to turn their season around, it will have to be on the defensive side of the floor.
Golden State is giving up 118.0 points per game, and that is far from their top-five defense from last season.
Another issue this lineup could present is a high rate of turnovers.
They are giving up the second-most points off turnovers in the NBA this season with 20.9 per game.
So limiting careless turnovers should be a focal point of this new lineup.
But, the hope is the offensive prowess can be enough to help the Warriors turn their season around.
