Warriors make big lineup change for Game 2 against Lakers

Mar 20, 2022; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr encourages his players during the fourth quarter against the San Antonio Spurs at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports

After ceding homecourt advantage to the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 of their second-round series, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is reaching into his bag of tricks.

The Warriors revealed ahead of Thursday’s Game 2 at Chase Center that big man JaMychal Green is entering the starting five in place of Kevon Looney. It marks a pretty major change for Golden State as Looney had been their starting center for the first eight games of the playoffs.

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The move may also have something to do with Looney’s personal status. The Warriors revealed that Looney is dealing with an illness but is still expected to play off the bench on Thursday, per NBA writer Marc Stein.

Illness notwithstanding though, the move makes sense tactically for Golden State. Looney is a wrecking ball on the glass, having recorded 23 rebounds in Game 1 (his fourth 20-plus rebound performance of the postseason). But Looney can cramp the Warriors’ spacing on offense, and Kerr thus opted to close extremely small in Game 1 (with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins, and Draymond Green).

JaMychal Green, a 37.8 percent three-point shooter this season, is a much greater offensive threat than Looney and will be able to pull Lakers big man Anthony Davis out of the paint, opening up rim runs for the Dubs guards.

Kerr is a master of in-series adjustments. As early as 2015, he altered the course of a series against the Memphis Grizzlies by sticking center Andrew Bogut onto Grizzlies’ non-shooter Tony Allen defensively. In 2019, Kerr also helped close out a series against the LA Clippers by moving guard Shaun Livingston into the starting five over Andre Iguodala.

The four-time champion coach Kerr even made a surprising decision during Golden State’s series this year against the Sacramento Kings, which ended up paying off. Now he will try to swing his team’s fortunes again in a must-win game against the Lakers on Thursday.