All it took was a Game 4 loss to the Denver Nuggets for Steve Kerr to get ruthless.
Now, ahead of Wednesday’s Game 5, the Warriors are going to start their much-anticipated three-guard lineup. Or, as Gary Payton II has dubbed it following Game 3 — the “PTSD” lineup.
For those not hip to the nickname, here’s a quick explanation:
P is for (Jordan) Poole, T is for (Klay) Thompson, S is Steph (Curry), and D is Draymond (Green). The final member of the exclusive five-man unit, Andrew Wiggins, gets left out of the cool nickname, which Payton II jokes he is okay with.
Let it be known that GP2 is a fan of the “PTSD” nickname for the three-guard lineup. He says Wiggins can stay separate 😂
— C.J. Holmes 🦹🏾♂️ (@CjHolmes22) April 22, 2022
The lineup change is a big one.
Why? For most of the regular season, the Warriors have played musical chairs with the starting backcourt. It began with Poole and Curry as the starting point guard and shooting guard while Thompson was still rehabbing from his Achilles injury. Then it was the original Splash Bros once Klay made his much-anticipated return from injury.
But Curry eventually got injured and was sidelined for about a month, creating the Poole-Thompson starting backcourt over the final month of the season. He’s since returned for the playoffs and has been a fantastic addition to Golden State’s bench.
Regardless of who has started these four playoff games, they’re all playing extremely well and have been mostly phenomenal when on the court together.
Warriors officially name their starters:
Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green— Kendra Andrews (@kendra__andrews) April 28, 2022
But it appears that Curry’s brief Sixth Man stint is coming to an end. We’ll get the healthy trio of Thompson, Curry and Poole in the starting unit for the first time, alongside Draymond and Wiggins, which could make for the Warriors’ extremely versatile new death lineup.
PTSD!
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