Golden State Warriors’ musical chairs indicative of lacklustre season

The Golden State Warriors’ game of musical chairs continued on Thursday night against the Los Angeles Lakers, with head coach Steve Kerr choosing to start second-year forward Jonathan Kuminga in place of veteran center Kevon Looney.

Part of the ploy was to quell the influence of Lakers star LeBron James, and on that front it worked as the 38-year-old’s 37-game streak of 20+ points was broken. Unfortunately for the reigning champions, that success failed to translate to the overall flow of the game.

Steve Kerr’s latest lineup change failed to produce a positive result as the Golden State Warriors fell 124-111 to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Any thought of an offensive boost from Kuminga’s presence was not forthcoming, with the Warriors’ starters combining to shoot just 20-for-61 (32.8) from the field. The ever professional Looney was reliable once again, recording ten points and 15 rebounds in under 20 minutes off the bench. That included a brief period during the third-quarter where the 27-year-old nearly single-handedly resisted the Laker charge, summoning his innate ability to drag in offensive rebounds and make the hustle plays.

https://twitter.com/warriors/status/1628983844820119552

Golden State have started 19 different lineups this season — a product of both their injury issues and underwhelming on-court play. The quantity of different units isn’t the issue — they had 30 various lineups throughout a successful regular season in 2021-22 — but it’s the almost random nature in which changes are made.

Now, there’s clearly a reason behind everything Kerr is trying to do. But this is the complexion of being a head coach in any sport — when you make a major change and it works, you’re lauded for innovation. When it doesn’t work, it’s easily perceived as an unruly act of desperation.

The strangest aspect of Thursday’s change is the success that lineup has had this season. The Jordan Poole-Donte DiVincenzo-Klay Thompson-Draymond Green-Looney lineup is 5-2 in seven games in which they’ve started together — for a unit with only three usual starters, that’s fairly impressive albeit with limited exposure. It actually holds a significantly better winning percentage than the Warriors’ normal starting lineup of Stephen Curry, Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Green and Looney.

To be fair, their ‘normal’ lineup is still the best they have. Without their two best players available, perhaps Kerr should have all the license to chop and change depending on the opposition. Whatever the case, Golden State need Curry and Wiggins back desperately before the season is truly unsalvageable.