If you follow the Golden State Warriors at all, the words “hashtag full squad” should sound familiar to you by now. If it doesn’t, click here to find out how it all began, and here for the full explanation on how it now has a life of its own.
To make a long story short, David Lee believed the Warriors were a darned good team when everyone in the starting lineup is healthy and playing together. He brought it up some weeks ago because the team was performing questionably at best through the first 20 games or so – particularly when Andre Iguodala was out of the lineup due to an injured hamstring – and some began to wonder whether all the hype about Golden State prior to the beginning of the season was justified.
As it turns out, Lee was more than right about his “full squad”. With the starting five intact, the Warriors’ record is an impressive 20-4. They are, in fact, one of the most dominating starting fives in the entire league on both ends of the court, according to Warriors.com:
Golden State allows nearly six fewer points per game (96.1 compared to 101.9) when fielding a healthy five, holding opponents to 42.1 percent from the field and 31.9 percent from distance. Those numbers jump up to 44.3 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from outside when the Warriors are missing one of their key cogs. Offensively, the Warriors score 5.2 more points (105.3 compared to 100.1) with the #FullSquad and shoot 2.5 percent better (47.3 to 44.8) themselves.
In 24 games together, they’ve held opponents below 100 points 15 times and below 40 percent from the field 11 times, both of which they accomplished less than a quarter of the time when missing a piece.
More specifically, when the full five-man unit is on the floor at the same time together, the Warriors have shot the lights out, to the tune of 52.6 percent from the field and 47.2 percent from three-point range. Both of those percentages are the best in the league among five-man units that have logged at least 10 minutes per game through a minimum of 20 contests. Applying those same minimums, the field goal percentage of the #FullSquad’s opponents (43.2 percent) is the second-lowest among five-man combinations, while the three-point percentage (34.3 percent) ranks seventh-lowest. Their offensive rating when on the floor together is a ridiculous 117.8, tops in the league, and their defensive rating of 97.1 ranks second best, for an overall league-leading net rating of 20.6.
Despite playing 15 fewer games together than most preferred lineups around the league, the #FullSquad leads the NBA in total plus/minus with a +186, nearly 30 points better than Indiana’s best five-man unit of Paul George, Roy Hibbert, George Hill, Lance Stephenson and David West (+158). The plus/minus is even more telling when looked at on a per game basis. The #FullSquad’s +7.8 per game leads all five-man units, nearly three points more than the next-best lineup (min. 20 games), a +4.9 belonging to the aforementioned Pacers combo.
Overall, Golden State is the third best defensive team in the league. Interestingly, it is their 14th-ranked offense that needs to catch up. Clearly, though, they become one of the most fearsome teams in the league on both ends when everyone in the starting lineup is healthy. It will take some luck to keep that core intact for the entire season, but their best chance at continued success in the regular season and beyond seems abundantly clear: #fullsquad.
PAU GASOL’S INJURY NOT SERIOUS:
It has been anything but good when it comes to status of injured players this season, but Los Angeles Lakers fans can breathe easily about Gasol, who provided a bit of a scare when it was reported that he would need an MRI on his injured foot. Eric Pincus of Los Angeles Times has details:
An MRI exam on Monday revealed that Pau Gasol has suffered what the Lakers said is a “moderate strain of the flexor tendon of the big toe of his left foot.”
Gasol missed practice Monday to be examined by foot specialist Dr. Phillip Kwong.
The Lakers forward-center was injured in a 123-87 loss to the Clippers on Friday night.
Gasol’s status for Tuesday night’s battle against the Cleveland Cavaliers is in question. The Lakers list him as a “game-time decision.”
RYAN ANDERSON COULD MISS REMAINDER OF THE SEASON:
The unfortunate injury Anderson suffered after colliding with Gerald Wallace back in Jan. 3 will prove to be costly for the power forward, according to John Reid of The Times Picayune:
Pelicans forward Ryan Anderson said before Monday night’s game against San Antonio Spurs that he will be sidelined for two months and could possibly miss the remainder of the season because of his herniated disc injury. He could require surgery.
Anderson was having a career year, averaging 19.8 points while converting a whopping three 3-pointers per game. His ability to space the floor will be greatly missed by the Pelicans. More importantly, they can only hope that the time off will prevent him from having to go through with surgery.
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