© Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
It would not be absurd to acclaim Golden State’s ‘Death Lineup’ as the greatest five-player assemblage in NBA history. It certainly would not be inaccurate to view the lineup as the most versatile — elevating play on both ends of the floor without surrendering a real rebounding disadvantage, despite the absence of a true big man.
At any point, the Warriors can trot out a lineup — including Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, and Andre Iguodala — with five potential Hall-of-Famers.
Out of those five, the least heralded player is an NBA Finals MVP. Another has a 37-point quarter and 60-point game on his resume. Another just became the first Golden State player to record a triple-double in a playoff series. Another is a four-time scoring champion and one-time MVP. Another is a two-time MVP and widely considered the greatest shooter ever.
Throughout the past two games, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has used the Death Lineup more frequently than ever. Last year, the group played 65 combined minutes in the playoffs. This year, the quintet has already played 54 minutes. Kerr started the lineup for the first time ever in Game 4, then again in Game 5. He figures to continue deploying the group in a Western Conference Finals tilt with the No. 1-seeded Houston Rockets that will feature small-ball galore.
The Death Lineup, which has helped produce two NBA championships — the first including Harrison Barnes in 2015 and the most recent with Durant in 2017—is dominating to levels rivaling the 2015-16 regular season campaign, the first full season in which the lineup was regularly implemented. Kerr originally inserted Iguodala into the starting lineup in the 2015 Finals, and the rest is history: the Warriors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games and Iguodala was named NBA Finals MVP.
In these past two games, the Warriors’ star-studded lineup outscored the Pelicans 113-64 in 37 minutes, nearly equivalent to three quarters.
Through the past four games, since Curry returned from a knee injury last Tuesday, the Death Lineup has outscored opponents by nearly 41 points per 100 possessions. With these five players, the Warriors have produced a 65.1 effective field goal percentage. The lineup has played at a breakneck speed, averaging 114.2 possessions per game in the playoffs — comfortably ahead of the 1981-82 Denver Nuggets that produced a 109.8 mark, the most ever in a regular season.
Where this current ‘Death Lineup’ separates itself is on the defensive end and rebounding. This unit is allowing only 86.6 points per 100 possessions on average, while corralling 85.5 of opponents’ misses, both better marks than the 2015-16 lineup.
This playoff run is even more impressive when contextualized with an up-and-down regular season riddled with injuries and bizarre lapses.
Each of the five players missed time due to injury. They missed a combined 84 contests during a 58-win campaign, Golden State’s lowest total in four years. Curry was the most frequent absentee, missing 31 total games, including 16 consecutive contests prior to Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals.
Consequently, the Death Lineup was nowhere near full strength. The unit was deployed for only 127 total minutes in 28 regular season games, logging fewer than five minutes on a per-game average. It produced an 8.4-point advantage per 100 possessions, 32 points fewer than it has in these playoffs.
Was the Death Lineup past its prime? How would it look in the playoffs with Curry returning from a nearly six-week hiatus?
Through four games, the results have been convincing, if not horrifying for the rest of the league.
With the Death Lineup starting for the first time in Game 4, the Warriors dominated to a 118-92 win. In Game 5, the same lineup started again. The first half ended with a three-point Golden State advantage, but the Death Lineup shot out to a 24-4 run to start the second half that effectively put the game away.
“Any time we have been in any danger over the years,” Kerr said, “we have gone to this lineup, whether it’s as a starting group or extra minutes.”
The Warriors have cycled Kevon Looney, Javale McGee, and Nick Young in and out of the starting lineup throughout these playoffs. The addition of Iguodala has allowed the Warriors to mix and match defensively, allowing them to switch screens without suffering from mismatches. Green, Iguodala, and Durant can guard any position, while Thompson is one of the top defensive 2-guards in the league.
The offense is filtered through setting high ball screens, while creating actions off the ball that lead to open shots for Golden State’s slew of world-class shooters. Much of this is made possible by Iguodala’s intuition.
“When Andre is on the floor,” Kerr said, “it’s like the babysitter is there and everything is fine. When you take him out, we lose our poise a bit.”
Iguodala was subbed out of Game 5 with 6:25 remaining in the third quarter, the Warriors leading the Pelicans 83-60. Kerr wanted to rest the 34-year-old forward for the remainder of the game. The Pelicans stormed back late, outscoring Golden State by 15 points after Iguodala exited, and held off a late New Orleans surge to take the series.
Golden State had a 25-point advantage during Iguodala’s 25 minutes Tuesday night.
“It seems like nothing really rattles him, and he just finds a way,” Curry said postgame. “I think he has embraced his role, which I guess is undefined. He is out there playing, kind of fills a lot of the holes and gaps defensively, knows what he is capable of. He is timely with his voice in the locker room and on the court.”
NBA fans have long awaited the inevitable Western Conference Finals tilt between the Rockets and Warriors. That Golden State’s Death Lineup is dominating so convincingly adds more anticipation, with Houston playing a small-ball style that produced an NBA-record 42.3 three-point attempts per game average this season.
The Warriors and Rockets have been undoubtedly the NBA’s best offensive teams throughout the past two years. Only time will tell whether the Rockets can match the effectiveness of Golden State’s Death Lineup, which is looking more lethal by the game.