Golden State Warriors have crucially found their bench unit

The Golden State Warriors’ biggest blunder to start the season was the play of their bench unit — Granted, it’s never easy trying to find a good mix of young talent and new veteran acquisitions. After trying just about every combination imaginable, head coach Steve Kerr looks like he’s finally found a productive group.

In the early part of the season, the Warriors unit was historically bad. The starters were clicking and looking like a championship-contending lineup, however, the bench lacked scoring, discipline on the defensive end, and experience.

A couple of rotation changes from coach Steve Kerr now has the Golden State Warriors’ second unit clicking and headed towards greater success.

Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins now sub out about halfway through the first quarter, which allows them to lead this second unit. Green not only anchors the defense for this unit, but he also allows Jordan Poole to move off the ball and keep overall movement flowing. Wiggins’ addition provides the shot-creation and shot-making that this group had severely lacked.

Aside from adjustments to the starters’ minutes, there are four major role players who have started to find their groove. Jonathan Kuminga and Anthony Lamb were fantastic against the Dallas Mavericks. Lamb has been consistently good as a two-way player for the Dubs, proving a high-IQ player who can knock down threes. Kuminga has really taken strides when it comes to his defensive intensity and rebounding, with both players learning to cut off the ball for Poole and Green to find them.

The two veterans that have picked up their play are Donte DiVincenzo and Jamychal Green. It finally feels like both have figured out their roles, and with that second unit specifically, DiVincenzo is a great on-ball defender and helps take the load off Poole offensively.

This unit was highlighted in the 116-113 loss to Mavericks. A majority of the bench unit had much better plus-minus numbers than the starters did, ultimately keeping the Warriors in the contest till the final seconds.

If this group can continue to play at a high level, the sky’s the limit for this team. It will also be interesting to see when the Warriors decide to bring back James Wiseman from the G League, and if they’ll look to add him back to the rotation. Not to mention, Moses Moody continues to rack up DNPs. Moody should belong in the rotation at some point, but for now, let’s simply enjoy not losing games once the second unit takes the floor.