Warriors’ new 3-guard starting lineup heats up to burn Bucks
Golden State Warriors are finding success with Steph Curry, Klay
Thompson and Jordan Poole on the court together
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 12: Golden State Warriors’ Klay
Thompson gets a courtside shower from Jordan Poole after his 38-point
game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Saturday, March 12, 2022, at Chase
Center in San Francisco, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 12: Golden State Warriors’ Klay
Thompson gets a courtside shower from Jordan Poole after his 38-point
game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Saturday, March 12, 2022, at Chase
Center in San Francisco, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
By SHAYNA RUBIN | srubin@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: March 13, 2022 at 6:00 a.m. | UPDATED: March 13, 2022 at 9:38
a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/03/13/warriors-debut-a-new-starting-lineup-in-win-against-bucks-and-it-worked-like-a-charm/

SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors debuted a starting lineup featuring Steph
Curry, Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole for the first time this season,
and it helped power them to a 122-109 win over the defending champions.

Head coach Steve Kerr’s bet that Milwaukee would send Jrue Holiday and
double-team to mug Curry came to fruition, and Poole and Thompson lit up
the scoreboard to ignite arguably the Warriors’ most satisfying win to date.

“Just getting Jordan out there as a secondary playmaker, we’d have some
openings,” Kerr said. “And it worked out because Jordan played a great
game.”

Poole’s 30-point night built on a stretch in which he shot 61% from the
field and 59% from three in six games leading up to Saturday’s win. His
confidence riding high, the 22-year-old found crafty paths to the rim
but made his mark from three, hitting five from beyond the arc.

One drawback of this rotation is Poole’s spotty defense, but he more
than held his own against Holiday. Kerr is looking for Poole’s
consistency on the defensive end.

“I’ve been hard on Jordan this whole season because I know he has the
potential to be an All-Star,” Kerr said. “I tell him ‘Don’t settle for
being sixth man of the year, go be an All-Star.’”

But this lineup truly pops when Thompson’s shooting hand is hot, and he
was in a zone, scoring a season-high 38 points including eight
3-pointers. A moment to celebrate for a player trying to find his
footing after missing 941 days with injury, and relief from a skid that
had him shooting 34% from the field and 23% from three since he returned
from injury last week.

“Everyone makes a big deal about my shooting,” Thompson said. “I mean,
I’m not happy with how I’m shooting, but I know these nights are within
me. I just know, I’ve been in this league for so long and done too many
great things out there to doubt myself.”

Shooters stumble across bad shooting nights that stretch into slumps,
but this new rotation could soften the blow of a slump, with three
strong shooters among the starting unit ready to cover for each other.

Curry finished with just eight points but added eight assists. Thompson
and Poole showed why double- or triple-teaming Curry can bite opposing
defenses.

Andrew Wiggins slid one spot up in the lineup and Kevon Looney rounded
out the starting five. With Draymond Green’s return looming Monday, the
Warriors will have their expected starting unit available, but Kerr said
before Saturday’s game he may throw out different starting lineups all
the way through the playoffs.

“There’s a lot of balls in the air to juggle,” Kerr said. “We’ve got to
figure out quickly what combinations make sense. I think what’s becoming
apparent to me this year is we could have a different lineup from game
to game in the playoffs, from series to series.”

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This one may become regular.

It’s no coincidence that the Warriors’ three-game win streak coincides
with Kerr integrating this three-guard lineup as a closing rotation,
beginning against the Clippers last week. In 16 games this season,
lineups that feature Poole, Curry and Thompson have an offensive rating
of 124, which ranks as the best offensive rating on the team (among
three-man lineups that have played at least 15 games together).

Poole spoke of the trio’s chemistry and emphasized the spacing advantage.

“It becomes a four-on-three, and in the NBA it’s really hard to defend,
you’re at a disadvantage already,” Poole said.

Added Thompson: “Steph and Jordan’s ability to handle the ball and
create opportunities for myself and Wiggs (Andrew Wiggins) is incredible.”

--
Shayna Rubin | Oakland Athletics reporter