Why The Warriors DEATH LINEUP 3.0 Will Be UNSTOPPABLE In The 2022 NBA Playoffs

This is Klay Thompson. He's about to do something ridiculous. Check this out. Okay, so Draymond Green is setting the screen here, but Klay's about to reject it and cross over to the left. His defender, Donovan Mitchell, sticks to him, so what does Klay do? One long sidestep to the left, then while drifting left, Klay lets it fly. The degree of difficulty of that shot is absolutely insane, and to do it in game with a defender draped all over him, truly unbelievable. Let's watch that just one more time. Guys, this is when I realized, at this moment, that the Warriors' death lineup, version 3.0, is going to be absolutely unstoppable in the 2022 NBA playoffs. The Golden State Warriors are going to have a complete monster of a death lineup in the postseason, and from a defensive standpoint, it's going to be near impossible to stop because it's like they say, good O trumps good D any day of the week. Let's go over it here really quickly. The five man lineup is going to consist of Steph Curry, Jordan Poole, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, and Draymond Green. That's four players who can average about 20 points in their sleep, and then you have one of the best point forwards in today's game, who will set up and find the open man. There's going to be so much ball and player movement that no defense in the defense is going to be able to contain these five. I mean, all throughout the season, I was saying that when Klay Thompson comes back and refinds his 2019 form, it's going to be over because teams won't be able to load up onto Curry anymore. And the only critique about this point was that people were saying that because of his injuries, Klay won't be looking like his old self. They said he won't be looking like his old self. His old self. Uh, yeah. He won't be looking like his old self, right? The scary truth about all this is, not only did Klay refind his old self, Jordan Poole has evolved right before our eyes. Recently, the third-year guard has been consistently putting up MVP-type numbers on the box scores, day in and day out. I mean, for the month of March, he put up about 25 points in 5 assists on 50% shooting from the floor, 44% from 3-point range, and 90% at the free throw line. So, what I'm trying to say is, alongside the Splash Brother combo of Steph and Klay, the Warriors are going to have a player who's been putting up nearly identical shooting numbers as the 2015 MVP version of Steph Curry. There's no other way to explain it, but this, by Jordan Poole, is going to be a problem for opposing defenses. He's fast, he's crafty when he works with screens, and if he even has a bit of daylight, he's either going to drive it hard to the rim, or raise up for the shot. He's becoming one of the more difficult players to guard in the whole league. And while teams are trying to defend him, guess who's also on the floor? That's right, Klay Thompson. And like I said earlier, Klay Thompson has refound his 2019 form. He's moving without the ball well, he's shooting well, and he's beginning to figure out his spots again, which is practically anywhere within 30 feet from the rim. Check this out. Here's Klay under the rim with Gobert on him. Klay runs to the perimeter, catches the ball, Gobert is a bit late, and… splash. Guess what Gobert does after this? He stomps his feet on the ground to pout, because the truth is, there's nothing more he could have done. He moves too well without the ball, he shoots the ball even better than he moves, and what makes this even worse is the fact that his teammates are looking for him. Sheesh guys. So let's take a tally so far. We have Jordan Poole, who lately has been playing like the 2015 MVP version of Steph Curry, and then we have Klay Thompson, who's been playing like the 2019 version of himself as of late, and then we have the unanimous MVP himself, coming back healthy. Just for a quick reminder, last season, coincidentally, also in March, Steph Curry also went out with an injury, that tailbone injury, you remember? But when he came back in April, he was rested, and what did he do? It was a stat line for the ages. 37 points per game, 52% shooting from the floor, and 40% shooting from beyond the arc. With all the split action the Warriors set in the offense, with all these staggered ball screens they run, the Warriors are going to have all the open space they'll need to get clean looks. I mean, Poole, Klay, and Curry? That's just not fair. I mean, Steph Curry is one of the ultimate weapons in the league today. The type of gravity and attention that he draws from defenses is second to nobody. Defenses have to stick to him like bees do to honey, and if they slip up, he's going to let it fly. And here's what Damian Lillard's response was when he was asked who was the most difficult person to guard in the league. I would say probably Steph because he just doesn't stop moving. When you play against Steph, it's not like when he has the ball, it is when he won't have the ball. He's just running all over the place, they screen for him, and it's like it's a heavy workload when you're playing against him because he doesn't stop moving. He'll make any shot, he'll shoot any shot, it's like, damn. Anyway, for this death lineup, in addition to having to try and stop Poole, Klay, and Curry, you'll also have to worry about the offensive output of Andrew Wiggins, who recently re-found his all-star form. This guy attacks from the inside to outside, mid-range, and on top of this, he's aggressive. His mindset is always attack, attack, attack, and as a result, he's added an extra element to this death lineup. As a former number one pick who recently became a starter in the best pickup game in the world, Wiggins makes this five-man squad go from dangerous to deadly. Then last off, you have Draymond Green, the man who's not dangerous until he is. I mean, I think the fact that defenses don't really defend him makes him even more dangerous because, well, he always has the element of surprise up his sleeves. Anyway, moving on here. Now that we've gone over the whole lineup, let me go into some more details on why this warrior's combination as a unit is going to be absolutely unstoppable. First off, you can't load up on Steph Curry anymore. Take the Memphis Grizzlies for example. They're going to stick Dylan Brooks onto Steph like they always do, but then who's going to guard Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole, who can both shoot it just as well as Steph? Next off, look at the Phoenix Suns and their elite level defense. A few days ago, their game against the Warriors came down to the wire, and that was without Steph in the lineup. Mikel Bridges, an all-world defender, was having his hands full already with just Poole and Thompson, and if you add the best shooter in the history of the game into the mix, it's going to spell nightmare. Anyway, let's switch gears here a bit really quickly and talk about defense. When it comes to defense, as long as Draymond orchestrates everybody's positioning, as long as the team collapses on the center and rotates quickly out to the ball when it's kicked out, it'll be enough for the Warriors to still be an elite defensive team. Because look at how the season started out. The Warriors had the number one rated offense and the number one rated defense, but the only reason why it stalled was because 82 games in a season is a grind, and slowly and slowly, bruises and injuries piled up, the mental fatigue came on, and because of that, that slump happened. But as of late, they've been coming together again, playing like how they did at the start of the season. Defensively and offensively, this Warriors team, and especially this death lineup, is absolutely going to be lethal. And if you want to see how the postseason is going to turn out for Golden State, then click this video right here, where I go over my exact predictions of how the 2022 NBA playoffs will play out for Steph Curry and the Warriors. And let me tell you, it's a good time to be a Warriors fan. Anyway guys, just click the video, and like always, I'll see you on the other side. Transcribed by https://otter.ai