Warriors “Fast Five” lineup returned to dominance. What changed?
The Golden State Warriors hammered the Memphis Grizzlies in the Dubs’ first home game of the series. After being down 21-8 in the first quarter, the Warriors went off, eventually winning 142-112.
Golden State was led by Stephen Curry who scored a team-high 30 points and third-year guard Jordan Poole who poured in 27. Klay Thompson was third on that list, totaling 21 points on 13 shots with 4 made triples.
The Warriors have continued to use their “Fast Five” lineup. This game, it dominated. What changed for the Dubs and their dominating small-ball lineup?
The Warriors won home-court advantage after their Game 1 victory. However, Memphis fought back in Game 2, a game that was highlighted by Dillon Brooks taking out Dubs’ starting shooting guard Gary Payton II.
Another thing that was true about Game 2 is that the death lineup was abused by Ja Morant. The lineup features Thompson, Curry, Poole, Andrew Wiggins, and four-time All-Star forward Draymond Green.
They had a net rating of -51 in 11 minutes. Head coach Steve Kerr talked about it following their loss in Game 2.
Notable quote from Steve Kerr today when asked about the Curry-Poole-Klay-Wiggins-Draymond small lineup against Memphis.
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) May 6, 2022
"It's a lineup we can absolutely play and absolutely can have success. But it's not a 25-minute (per game) lineup."
Kerr took down the volume minutes that the lineup was getting. One five-man lineup getting almost a quarter is a chunk of the game. However, in Game 3, the lineup saw just 5 minutes. In those minutes, it erupted.
The Fast Five returned to dominance, and it was a huge reason for Golden State’s blowout victory. In the mere 5 minutes they were given together, the lineup produced an offensive rating of 133.3 and a defensive rating of 81.8.
There were a few keys in this lineup, but most of it comes on the defensive side of the ball. Learning to either blitz Morant or protect the paint better was the most important change for the Warriors.
They also had a far better defensive rebounding rate at 66.7. Sure, there are some things that are more so luck, mainly the shooting of the lineup as even in Game 2 it was generating looks consistently.
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The Fast Five being able to defend while also breaking down the Grizzlies’ sixth-best defense in the NBA was easily among the highlights of the game for the Warriors, and it should be something that aids their ability to win games moving forward.