The Golden State Warriors did something very unexpected against the Boston Celtics on Thursday night, they changed their starting lineup and took Kevon Looney out for Jordan Poole. It was a decision that shocked fans, but one that head coach Steve Kerr was hoping to galvanize the team into a winning streak.
"Just wanted to open up the floor," Steve Kerr said. "Give us a little different look, maybe give a spark. We're past the halfway point, and we're .500. Let's try something different. First time in a while we've had all those guys healthy, too. It's a lineup that we know can be explosive against Boston in particular. You've got to open up the floor, they've got a big front line and big wings and it just felt like we could possibly get a little boost from it."
The Warriors have already been known to revolutionize small ball in the NBA when they made an undersized Draymond Green become their starting center; the team is going to keep starting small with Jordan Poole in the starting lineup for now.
"I think I'll keep doing it," Steve Kerr said. "We'll see how it goes, it went well tonight. Looney was great off the bench. Obviously, we've still got some injuries. We just decided to keep it tight with the eight-man rotation. I thought everybody came in and played hard and played well. You've got to close the game, especially on the road against a great team."
The Golden State Warriors may not have a winning record, but they're very clearly a formidable team that's capable of turning it on against the top teams in the NBA. The team still hasn't figured out a way to put it together, but hopefully, this change is the way to do it.
More must-reads: