Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) argues with a referee as is refrained by Golden State Warriors forward JaMychal Green (1) after he was called for a foul on Golden State Warriors guard Ryan Rollins (2) in the second quarter of Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
The Warriors made a starting lineup change ahead of Thursday’s Game 2 against the Los Angeles Lakers. But while removing Kevon Looney was somewhat expected, who they replaced him with was the surprise.
It’ll be JaMychal Green starting alongside Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green.
Part of the reason for the swap is that Looney isn’t feeling well, the Warriors said before Thursday’s tip, but he’s expected to still play tonight.
There was some discussion that Golden State would opt to go small and bring Jordan Poole into the starting lineup for Looney. Instead, JaMychal Green will make just his second start as a Warrior since signing last offseason (Dec. 7 at Utah) and try to provide some added 3-point shooting without sacrificing size.
The Warriors may be hoping JaMychal Green can give them a similar impact to what Otto Porter did in 2021-22 as the Warriors stormed their way to an NBA title. He hasn’t been an exact replacement for Porter throughout this season and only played eight minutes in Game 1’s loss. But given the Looney news, it’s fair to assume JaMychal Green likely will see his minutes increase on Thursday.
The Lakers kept their starting five the same. The starting lineup for the Warriors hasn’t played together at all in their eight playoff games and only played 18 minutes in the regular season.
Here are the full starting lineups:
Warriors
Steph Curry
Klay Thompson
Andrew Wiggins
Draymond Green
JaMychal Green
Lakers
D’Angelo Russell
Austin Reaves
Jarred Vanderbilt
LeBron James
Anthony Davis
Originally published at Alex Simon