In the past, we’ve seen Steve Kerr stick to his “strength in numbers” mentality in the playoffs, for better and for worse (the thought of poor Festus Ezeli trying to defend LeBron out near the three point line in game 7 of the NBA Finals still gives me nightmares). I think there is no reason to expect that to change in the early rounds of the playoffs, although depending on player health and effectiveness, I could see some minutes being allocated differently.
My expectation is the following:
- Starters (Steph, Klay, KD, Draymond, JaVale) until past the halfway point of the 1st/3rd quarters
- Depending on matchups and foul trouble, Iguodala/Zaza first subs off the bench, followed by whichever of Young and McCaw has earned Steve Kerr’s trust
- Start of 2nd/4th quarters: the dinosaurs (Livingston, Iguodala, West, Green, Thompson), maybe with KD integrated to provide a more consistent scoring punch (I’d think that drops Thompson from this unit)
- Next subs: Young/McCaw, JaVale/Jordan Bell, whichever of Omri Casspi and Quinn Cook is on the roster, Steph re-enters with 6 minutes left
Nothing too crazy above – this has been Steve Kerr’s preferred approach for most of this season, at least when the Dubs have been healthy.