Should OKC Thunder Consider Starting Lineup Change for Game 4?

Oklahoma City is on the brink of a 3-1 hole, and it might need to make a big change before Game 4.

On Wednesday night, the Thunder dropped Game 3 against the Indiana Pacers to fall back down in the series. To tie the Finals again, the Thunder will need to play much sharper than they have thus far.

They may also need to make some serious adjustments ahead of the critical matchup. Most notably, the Thunder might need to try a different starting lineup than they have in this series.

Through three games, Oklahoma City has started Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Lu Dort, Chet Holmgren and Cason Wallace. While the first four have started every playoff game this year, Wallace saw his first postseason start come in these NBA Finals.

Before tipping off against Indiana, Isaiah Hartenstein had started every matchup on the Thunder’s run through the West. Although this series might not seem built for the double-big lineup to succeed, it might also be the perfect way to create an advantage and keep the Pacers from finding an early rhythm.

Throughout the first three games, Oklahoma City has used the Holmgren-Hartenstein pairing for only 10 minutes and has outscored the Pacers by seven in that small sample size. The Thunder are also yet to use their starting lineup from the first three rounds at any point in this series.

Although the evidence is small, it does point to Oklahoma City having some success when both of its starting bigs are on the floor together. While the Thunder’s offensive rating is only 95.7, which is part of why Mark Daigneault opted to go away from the starting bigs to begin this series, their defensive rating is an incredible 62.5.

Sure, that might have to do with the Pacers’ personnel while the Thunder have gone double bigs, but Oklahoma City worked through issues against versatile groups throughout the final months of the season to be ready for situations like this. Although the Pacers might not allow for the ideal strategy of Hartenstein holding down the middle and Holmgren roaming, forcing Pascal Siakam to see a bigger body early and having another big in position on the glass could give the Thunder the slight edge they need in the opening minutes of each half.