Warriors’ Kerr jokes about lineup change leaking: ‘We have a special correspondent’
Kerr #Kerr
The Golden State Warriors are shaking up their starting lineup for Game 4 of their second-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers, putting Gary Payton II into a starting role, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
Payton is reportedly expected to fill out a lineup featuring Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green, an indication that the Dubs will start out small against a larger Lakers squad. When asked about this potential lineup, head coach Steve Kerr joked with reporters ahead of Game 4 about Charania’s getting this news.
“That’s OK. Shams is in the lineup sharing business,” Kerr said.
“We have a special correspondent within the organization that shares information with him apparently,” he added.
This change is a bit of a surprise. The 30-year-old guard’s minutes this postseason haven’t exactly been consistent, particularly in this series. He hasn’t played more than 12 minutes and 50 seconds in one game, and that was in Game 3, when the game was decided well before the final buzzer. In the Dubs’ lone win against the Lakers, he played a mere 8 minutes, 44 seconds.
Still, Payton’s expected performance in the postseason is why the Warriors traded for him this February in the first place. The Warriors desperately need defensive help to stay afloat, and Payton’s presence with the starters might just help with that. This is especially true given how Lakers point guard D’Angelo Russell started off Game 3 hot and hit five 3-pointers on his way to a 21-point performance, his best of the series. Easing up the defensive workload of Thompson and Curry could theoretically allow the two Splash Brothers to do more on the offensive end.
What this also shows is that even though the Warriors have gone out of their way to publicly support their struggling teammate, Jordan Poole, the $123 million man will keep coming off the bench.
The Warriors are down 2-1 against the Lakers in the series and will try to even things up Monday.
This is a developing news story and has been updated.