Who Should Start for the Golden State Warriors in the Playoffs?
By Andrew Ites
The Warriors have kept their starting lineup the same for most of the past two seasons, but they may want to shake it up for this year’s playoff run.
Zaza Pachulia has been a punching bag for many Golden State fans ever since he joined the Warriors as everything he does on a basketball court looks difficult and awkward, and he’s in the midst of his 15th NBA season at 34 years old.
However, he’s been fairly effective in playing about 15 minutes per night with the starting lineup, and the Warriors haven’t faced enough adversity to consider changing that starting lineup.
The Houston Rockets will likely present the Warriors with their biggest challenge since adding Kevin Durant to the team, and that may be enough adversity to force Steve Kerr to shove Zaza to the bench.
I think Pachulia is the third-best center on the roster, and I would only give him extremely limited playing time in the playoffs.
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Kerr can still have a traditional center in the starting lineup by replacing Zaza with David West, who has been a much better player this season. Then, Kerr can play more minutes of Draymond Green at center than he has during the regular season in the death lineup , and I’d bring in Jordan Bell as my second center off the bench after some time with Draymond at the five.
Pachulia had a negative plus-minus in three of the Warriors’ five games in the NBA Finals last season, and I don’t think he’s capable of staying on the floor against most of the playoff teams in the league this year.
Don’t be surprised if you hear David West’s name announced among the starters sometime during the Warriors’ quest to defend their title.
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