CLEVELAND -- The Golden State Warriors are up 2-1 in these NBA Finals, but they now have a problem beyond the optics of just having been crushed by 30 points. It’s their starting lineup, a lineup that has served Golden State well but might be ill-suited for this particular situation. It’s a lineup that probably would be doing fine if Stephen Curry was in MVP form. But he isn’t, and it isn’t.
In 25 minutes of play this series with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State’s starters have been outscored by 22. That number is perhaps skewed by a Game 3 in which they were outscored by 15 in nine minutes. But Game 3 -- a 120-90 Cleveland victory on Wednesday night -- does indeed count.
What made Game 3 unique was how the Cavs started it -- with Richard Jefferson in for the concussed Kevin Love. This was an opening for the Warriors to downsize, as they had when they seized the 2015 NBA Finals by swapping out Andrew Bogut for Andre Iguodala. On Wednesday, the Warriors went with the tried and true, sticking with centers until the start of the second quarter, when they were down 17.
Before the change, the Cavaliers had repeated success involving Bogut in Kyrie Irving's pick-and-rolls, and the Warriors were finding little space on the offensive end. The Warriors found freedom with smaller, switching lineups, only to again lose traction in the second half when they started out big. To be fair, Bogut did not play badly; the Warriors just happened to play badly with him in the lineup.
After the game, Warriors coach Steve Kerr expressed no outward concern about his lineup, ascribing the defeat to an overall malaise. Kerr said his team played “soft” and generalized the beatdown by saying his team “got our tails kicked.” There’s something to that -- and it echoes Kerr’s sentiments after the Warriors were run off the floor by the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals with their smaller lineup.
The issue there is Golden State went out and got crushed again by the Thunder in Game 4, despite the generalized blame and staying true to the lineup. Perhaps the Warriors' second-half lineup switch (Iguodala for Harrison Barnes) in Game 6 salvaged that series against Oklahoma City. Or maybe it was just a coincidence. In any event, overall poor play isn’t necessarily an argument against making a change. A lineup change can, theoretically, help facilitate better overall play.
There’s also merit to the notion that Curry’s awful play in Game 3 of the Finals overshadows any and all lineup issues. It’s an understandable argument, but consider this: If you can’t count on MVP-level Curry, it makes even less sense to shrink the spaces with which he has to work.
There’s no guarantee that Curry returns at peak form -- his decision to sit out the Olympic Games in August is a hint toward the truth.
It’s stating the obvious to say he’s playing a compromised postseason after missing action in eight playoff games, but that statement is loaded. It can be seen more as an excuse than an explanation -- and an excuse conveniently cited after losses. But this is likely no different from when Dwyane Wade could gut out games in his more battered Miami Heat title chases. Curry is capable of greatness, just with less consistency. A good game doesn’t mean he is magically healed, and a bad game doesn’t prove he is ailing beyond recognition. He is just less often himself, and perhaps more so on the road, where he’s shooting 29.9 percent from long range this postseason.
Still, the Warriors need better from Curry, whatever the circumstances. Some of his mistakes, such as getting beaten backdoor by Irving, were crimes of focus. Curry, for all his greatness, can make those mistakes at times. The Warriors, for all the winning, often take his lead in that department. They remain the team that drives without a seat belt, playing with a carefree style that can easily lurch into “careless.”
Maybe the situation has suddenly become urgent enough to inspire more focus, effort and whatever other bromides the Warriors cited after Wednesday's blowout. And perhaps the situation is urgent enough to jump-start that process with a lineup change. The guess here is that Kerr shouldn’t wait.
The Warriors have as much cause to start small now as they did in last season's Finals, when their downsizing effectively decided that series. With Cleveland going smaller, Golden State might have even more reason to bring Iguodala to the fore and slide Draymond Green to center.
“We played like s--- tonight," Bogut said after the game. "It wasn't just one guy.”
He’s right about that. But there are also measures that could help prevent that from happening again.