Despite a raft of success over the last decade, Golden State Warriors fans have so often their team playing painfully small, urging for Steve Kerr to consider going the other way as has been the trend now in the league in recent seasons.
While the desire for a bigger lineup was fulfilled perhaps only briefly on Saturday against the Oklahoma City Thunder, it was unleashed in a shock manner that brings intrigue to the potential of a 'jumbo' lineup going forward.
Warriors unleash shock jumbo lineup in Oklahoma City
With four minutes to go on Saturday and the Warriors attempting their second upset win in as many games, Kerr turned to a lineup that featured Brandin Podziemski, Gui Santos, Draymond Green, Al Horford and the returning Kristaps Porzingis.
That's right. A team who has so often had Green as their center in recent years, instead had four players standing taller than their 6'6" veteran -- the 6'7" Santos, 6'9" Horford and 7'2" Porzingis.
The lineup played two minutes together before Porzingis was replaced by someone a foot shorter in Gary Payton II. During that two-minute span, Golden State used their length to be disruptive and keep the Thunder scoreless, but they only scored two points themselves as the visitors failed to climb the mountain against the reigning NBA champions.
It's far too early to make any sweeping judgements on such a lineup after only a couple of minutes, but even seeing four players with legitimate size on the floor together is something fans have been begging for over recent years.
It theoretically works because Horford and Porzingis are both above average 3-point shooters and particularly for their size. Kerr may have also felt more comfortable because Green had nailed four 3-pointers to that point, allowing him to technically play the small-forward spot which was reminiscent of his early years in the league.
Warriors 'jumbo' lineup could get even better next season
We're not necessarily going to see the Green-Horford-Porzingis trio together a whole lot, perhaps largely because there might not be too many games where they're all healthy and available. It could be a nice change up unit in spurts though, potentially allowing for the Warriors to swarm defensively and attack mismatches on offense.
There's certainly upgrades to that kind of lineup too. Podziemski's role as the point guard in that unit could be replaced by Stephen Curry before this season's out, while the 6'7" Jimmy Butler could replace Santos or Green if this roster looks similar next year when the 6x All-Star returns from his torn ACL.
Regardless, it was simply nice to see Kerr and the Warriors lean on the side of going big, providing some level of defensive integrity that nearly propelled another surprise win against all odds.