The Golden State Warriors turning to Draymond Green at center during their prime dynasty days typically meant death for opponents, which is why the Death Lineup nickname was born. The first iteration was with Green, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala and Harrison Barnes, and then Kevin Durant was swapped in for Barnes.
The Warriors now have a new version, though it was in mothballs this season thanks to all the injuries to key players in 2021-22. But in Saturday's 123-107 Game 1 win over the Denver Nuggets, Kerr unleashed the unit of Curry, Thompson, Green, Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins for nearly five minutes, and the Warriors won those minutes by 14 points. What was a small Nuggets lead late in the second quarter turned into an 11-point halftime advantage for Golden State.
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Thompson and Poole both gave their assessment of the lineup after the game, via ESPN's Kendra Andrews:
“It's a scary sight when we really get going,” Thompson said. “This is really only our first time really playing together.”
Said Poole of the lineup: “It's pretty lethal.”
This Warriors lineup features an abundance of shooting with Curry, Thompson, Poole and Wiggins, plus Green to run the show on both ends of the court. Poole was the star in Game 1, pouring in 30 points for the game and jump-starting the run with this lineup. Curry and Thompson both scored multiple times as well during the key stretch, while Green dished out three of his nine assists over that span to end the half.
Expect Kerr to go to this lineup more often as the playoffs go on, and it will likely wind up being the Warriors' closing group. Golden State looked awfully dangerous against Denver in Game 1, and just wait until this unit builds more chemistry together. The healthy Warriors are absolutely a threat to win it all.
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