The Warriors entered their first-round series with the Denver Nuggets with a giant postseason question mark hanging over their head. But it has taken just two games, one lineup, and 11 on-court minutes for the Warriors to break the Nuggets and announce themselves as a legitimate, not conceptual, title threat.
Whatever you choose to call the Warriors' new, lethal lineup -- Fast Five, Dash and Splash, The Driplets, Deathcon 5, Tidal Wave, Death Lineup 3.0: Electric Splash -- it's clear the Nuggets have no answer for Golden State's fully-operational Infinity Gauntlet.
In those 11 minutes when Steph Curry, Jordan Poole, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, and Draymond Green share the floor, the Warriors have outscored the Nuggets 47-18. The insertion of the unnamed lineup flipped both Game 1 and Game 2 in the Warriors' favor and splintered the sixth-seeded Nuggets in the process.
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With 6:02 remaining in the second quarter Monday, the Warriors trailed Denver by eight when head coach Steve Kerr unleashed the dragons. A 9-0 run in two minutes put the Warriors on top. They led by six at halftime, outscoring the Nuggets 22-8. Curry was shimmying, Poole was hitting from everywhere and the Nuggets were busy arguing with each other while the Warriors danced their way to a two-games-to-none series lead.
“I mean, we’ve got to make them feel us,” Nuggets guard Monte Morris said after the loss. “They’re out there laughing, dancing around. S--t’s embarrassing. We’ve just got to be tougher. Coach can do what he’s got to do. He’s given us a great game plan. We’ve just got to be tougher, man. We can’t let the usual suspects go out here (and score) 21, 29, and 34. We’ve got to make somebody else beat us.
"I just think that’s what it is. But we’ve got to see what we’re made of. Real men are not going to fold, but we’ll see where we’re made of.”
The Warriors' championship confidence is starting to overflow. This new lineup, which was unveiled in Game 1, has an offensive rating of 204.3 and a defensive rating of 75.0.
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It's that last number that's important. After Game 1, both head coach Steve Kerr and Green said how the small-ball Warriors defend will determine how potent that lineup will be.
“We need Wiggs to rebound,” Kerr said. “We can’t foul. If we don’t foul, we can get out and run. Even if the other team scores, we’re still pushing the ball rather than having to walk it up after a free throw. Then we’ve got to contain penetration. We’ve gotta be able to use our speed and quickness to keep people out of the paint and then rebound and go.”
On offense, this Warriors' lineup is a souped-up version of the T-1000. It's built to rip defenses to shreds in any number of ways. Slice, dice, pull-up, blowby. You name it, these Warriors can do it on offense. If they can hold up on defense as they did in Game 2, they can get out and run and few teams will be able to stop the avalanche from ensuing.
“You have three guys that are capable of putting up 30, 40 points,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “Jordan Poole had 30 points in Game 1, he had 29 tonight. Steph Curry is the greatest Sixth Man ever in the Playoffs. They bring a guy off the bench like that, 34 points, five threes ... and then Klay Thompson.”
There were too many moments to count from Game 2 that showed just how potent the Warriors' trump card lineup can be.
Steph got this circus shot to go to give the Warriors their first lead.
Green, Poole, and Thompson toyed with the Nuggets on the break.
There was Will Barton not picking up Curry after a made basket as the Nuggets struggled to hold onto the rope.
And up 20 late in the fourth, Curry added insult to injury by clowning the Nuggets with this fadeaway.
Yes, the Nuggets are the perfect opponent for the Warriors to test out and employ this lineup. But the effectiveness and ferocity with which the [Insert Name Here] lineup has beaten, brutalized, and demoralized the Nuggets has been an impressive show of brute force.
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The series isn't over, but the Nuggets have no counter for a multi-purpose weapon that can kill you slowly or in the blink of an eye.
Golden State knows future playoff foes likely will be better equipped to at least apply a tourniquet to the wounds the Fast Five deliver.
The Nuggets have no answer and no hope. They spent Game 2 in full meltdown mode, frustrated and flustered by an offensive behemoth that wouldn't let them up for air.
The Warriors have shattered the Nuggets. All that's left is for Golden State to decide when to put Denver out of its misery.