The idea was simple: Replace Harrison Barnes with Kevin Durant to form a Golden State Warriors five-man lineup impervious to defeat. But the Warriors’ so-called “Super Death Lineup” hasn’t been so deadly in late-game situations, especially in comparison to last year’s squad.
In the 21 games the Warriors’ Death Lineup with Barnes played last season, Golden State outscored opponents by a whopping 69 points per 100 possessions in the fourth quarter. They blew teams out of the water. They selflessly moved the ball around until the perfect shot arose, be it a Curry step-back three-pointer or an uncontested Barnes corner three.
They were historically great, especially in crunch time. And yet, despite replacing Barnes with a former MVP in Durant, the new Death Lineup is not performing nearly as well as its predecessor.
This group features three previous or current All-Stars (Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala) and two league MVPs (Durant, Stephen Curry). Yet statistically, they’re only a hair better than the Warriors’ starters with Western Conference All-Star front-runner Zaza Pachulia in at center.
Their best five outscores opponents by 21.9 points per 100 possessions, while the Warriors starting lineup outscores teams by 21.4. And in the fourth quarter, the death lineup essentially breaks even with a net rating of just 1.1 points per 100 possessions.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Golden State is still really, really good.
When the Warriors added Durant to their star-studded starting lineup over the summer, they did so with the intentions of an improving a team that finished 73-9 before falling just short of an NBA championship
Now at a league-best 34-6, Golden State did just that. The Warriors scored nearly 150 points against the Lakers. They’ve scored 125 or more points 12 times and have yet to score fewer than 100 points in a game this season.
The new Death Lineup routinely obliterates opposing teams during normal action. Not only do they light up the scoreboard, but they also play smothering defense that forces opponents into taking unbearably tough shots.
The Warriors have an average margin of victory of 12 points. They build early insurmountable leads that allow their starters to sit the fourth quarter.
But those late-game struggles still exist.
Thirty-four wins in 40 games is nothing to shrug at. But Golden State has lost only to teams they could face in the postseason. The Spurs pounded the Warriors by 29 on opening night. The Warriors lost to the Grizzlies twice — once by 21 points — and fell to the Rockets by five in double overtime at home.
Recently, those losses have been high-profile fourth-quarter collapses. The last time the Warriors faced the Cavaliers, they blew a 14-point fourth-quarter lead. That led to the second-most amazing clutch shot of Kyrie Irving’s career.
Cavaliers' Kyrie Irving gets another game-winner vs. the Warriors (all angles) pic.twitter.com/3aZB4o23zF
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) December 25, 2016
Five games later, the Warriors surrendered a whopping 24-point lead and allowed the Grizzlies to outscore them by 28 in the fourth quarter and overtime. That was the same game Draymond Green gave Durant an earful for waving off a screen in favor of an isolation possession late in the fourth quarter.
Warriors' Kevin Durant calls for ball on crucial late possession, Stephen Curry relents, Draymond Green reacts w/ frustration pic.twitter.com/VROJSAZ0cZ
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) January 7, 2017
Draymond ain't happy with KD pic.twitter.com/bc97cDJaZg
— Full Court Prez (@fullcourtprez) January 7, 2017
The Warriors are the top-ranked team in first- and third-quarter scoring and rank second in the second quarter. They fall all the way down to 12th in the fourth quarter.
Much of that is due to the Golden State bench playing the brunt of fourth quarter minutes during blowout victories, but the Warriors’ best five isn’t the best fourth-quarter lineup in its own right.
Golden State’s death lineup is shooting just 24 percent from downtown in the fourth quarter, the worst of any NBA lineup to average seven or more fourth-quarter points through at least 10 games this season.
So what’s going wrong?
Draymond Green said it best after the Warriors’ overtime loss to the Grizzlies:
“I’m actually happy we lost today,” he said, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. “There are some things we need to correct to win a championship.”
Added Durant: “Obviously, we have a long way to go. We’re still learning about each other.”
Late during that loss, hero ball prevailed over Golden State’s trademark ball movement. It’s a situation that isn’t unique to just the Death Lineup, and something Durant no longer needs to do now that he’s in a new offensive system.
On some plays Durant — a more than capable scorer — is so hellbent on putting the ball in the bucket, he doesn’t even see his MVP teammate and lethal sharpshooter wide open.
That leads to situations where both Curry and Durant want the ball on key possessions. Against Memphis, Curry deferred. Durant called his own number and came up short. Green gave his new co-star a mouthful.
Chemistry is something that takes time. Where Barnes was a spot-up corner shooter who could take an opponent off the dribble, Durant is a world-class scorer who can also make corner threes. There’s a learning period that’s taken a bit longer than many anticipated, and that’s OK.
Are we overblowing this? Probably
It’s sort of like Kristaps Porzingis said when his New York Knicks advanced to a 14-10 record in early December: His team wasn’t necessarily playing as a unit. They were relying on individual talents to win ball games — a strategy that blew up in their faces as they’ve fallen to 18-23 this season.
The difference is Golden State boasts all-world talent and can afford to allow their individual skills to take some games over.
You’ll recall the 2010-11 Miami Heat had their struggles early on before hitting a stride that landed them in the NBA Finals. Building chemistry in high-pressure situations takes time, and the Warriors are no exception to this rule.
So while their fourth-quarter struggles may be a trend to follow now, there’s no reason to panic. Golden State’s death lineup got its name for a reason, and there’s plenty of time to work out the kinks until the stage is brightest at the end of the season.