Golden State Warriors: Steve Kerr has major lineup decision to make ahead of Game 4

The Golden State Warriors will be looking to tie up their first-round series on Sunday afternoon when they meet the Sacramento Kings in Game 4 at Chase Center. After gathering some momentum with a comfortable Game 3 win on Thursday, the defending champions will be boosted by the return of Draymond Green and the likely inclusion of Gary Payton II.

While the return of Green is an undoubted positive after serving a one-game suspension, it does pose a starting lineup challenge for Steve Kerr given the contrasting performances across each of the last two games.

Steve Kerr will be tasked with the decision of retaining the Golden State Warriors’ traditional starting lineup, or playing three guards as they did in the successful Game 3.

When Andrew Wiggins was re-inserted into the starting lineup in Game 2, it pushed Donte DiVincenzo to the bench alongside fellow guards Jordan Poole and Gary Payton II. Tasked with balancing five guards in practically an eight-man rotation, Kerr understandably struggled to find effective combinations as the Kings eventually took hold of the game late in the contest.

Such was the imbalanced nature of their rotation in Game 2, Kerr may have well made a change to the startling lineup for Game 3 regardless. As it turned out, the decision was out of his control anyway with Green suspended.

Now with Green back in the fold, is it as simple as him replacing Poole in the starting lineup? As has been the case for this small-ball v big debate all season, it comes down to the fourth-year guard or starting center Kevon Looney.

There’s a case that Poole, or even DiVincenzo or Payton start alongside Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins and Green. It balances the Warrior bench to a far greater degree, not to mention the disparity in Poole’s production between starting and coming off the bench.

With Moses Moody seamingly leapfrogging Jonathan Kuminga in the rotation over the first three games, you could argue that the first four off the Golden State bench are all guards. Moody at least has a little more size than the other three, meaning he’s a small-forward or even power-forward in this Warrior makeup.

Yet despite the very real argument that can be made for another guard starting, it seems unlikely that Kerr would go in that direction. Forget the fact that Curry-Thompson-Wiggins-Green-Looney is easily the best starting unit that Golden State possesses, but just the sheer enormity of Looney’s performance in Game 3 means he simply cannot be demoted.

The 27-year-old joined Nikola Jokic, Charles Barkley and Magic Johnson as the only players in NBA history to record nine offensive rebounds and nine assists in a playoff game. Most would consider that Looney has got the better of Kings’ All-Star center Domantas Sabonis in two of the first three games, and that’s simply not a matchup you mess with in order to accommodate some bench pieces.

Kerr will have his plans in place, and contingencies depending on which of the bench guards provide production and reliability. Playoff games are generally decided by the stars and those that play 30-35+ minutes, and the Warriors should hope that remains the case in Game 4 and beyond.