Warriors-Kings: Will Steve Kerr put Draymond Green back in starting lineup, or continue to prioritize spacing?

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Heading into Warriors-Kings Game 5 on Wednesday night, the question on everyone’s mind is whether De’Aaron Fox, with his shooting hand broken finger, will be able to play. The answer appears to be yes. 

Fox went into great detail about his injury, the protective covering he’ll wear, and why he doesn’t think it’ll be a major problem. That remains to be seen, particularly if Fox takes another hit on the finger. 

Meanwhile, Golden State has its own questions to ponder, starting with whether Draymond Green should return to the starting lineup. 

Green says it was his idea to come off the bench in Game 4. He watched the Warriors win Game 3 while he was serving his suspension with Jordan Poole in his starting spot, but the way Green tells it, it wasn’t Poole who would’ve gone back to the bench had Green reassumed his starting role. It was Kevon Looney. 

“Looney just had 20 rebounds [in Game 3], nine assists, dominated the game,” Green explained on his podcast. “You don’t then go to him and say, ‘Hey, your reward is to come out of the starting lineup. As a leader of a team, that’s how you lose guys.” 

(Listen to Green’s full account of how the decision to bring him off the bench came about. It sheds a lot of light on why he is such a respected teammate). 

There’s been no confirmation that Looney was going to be the one to come out of the starting lineup had Green returned to his normal role, but it makes sense. Steve Kerr prioritized spacing in Game 4. Poole in with the starters provides a lot more room for the offense to operate with defenders forced to honor four shooters rather than three, as is the case when Golden State starts Looney and Green together. 

Instead, Kerr flip-flopped Looney and Green for much of the game, and he only played Gary Payton II, who also missed Game 3 (sick), for a total of seven minutes in Game 4. The Kings are faster and more dynamic defensively (throw the numbers out; we’re just talking pure pressure) than the Warriors, who are having to work extremely hard to generate offensive…

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Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/warriors-kings-will-steve-kerr-put-draymond-green-back-in-starting-lineup-or-continue-to-prioritize-spacing/

Author : Brad Botkin

Publish date : 2023-04-25 21:51:11

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