With the absence of the Warriors’ Big Three, Gui Santos will make the fourth start of his career on Friday against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Santos will be joined by Brandin Podziemski, Moses Moody, Will Richard and Quinten Post.
Along with Stephen Curry (ankle), Jimmy Butler (illness) and Draymond Green (rest), De’Anthony Melton (knee injury management) and Seth Curry (sciatica) are out.
Jonathan Kuminga was a late addition to the injury report due to lower back pain. He’s also out, meaning the Warriors will only have 10 players available against OKC.
Santos wins a starting place
Santos is coming off one of the best games of his career, as he had 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting and 3-of-4 shooting from three, five rebounds, two assists, one block and zero turnovers against the Hornets. He was plus-15, his sixth straight game with a positive plus/minus.
Over Golden State’s last 12 games, Santos leads the team in plus/minus at plus-59.
At 6’7″, Santos is essentially a modern-day 4. He’s rarely outmatched on the defensive end by other 4s, which is why it’s difficult to understand why Kerr limited his minutes and instead opted for smaller players to play power forward.
On Friday, he’ll get a big share of the minutes he’s earned.
Dubs need a big score game from Podz
Believe it or not, Podz is Golden State’s third-leading scorer at 12.5 points per game.
The Warriors’ lack of reliable secondary scoring was already a problem when Curry and Butler were playing. Without them, they will need several players to gain strength.
But it will start with a big Podz match.
He is coming off a solid game with 19 points on 6 of 9 shooting against the Hornets.
His career high is 29 points. The Warriors might need him to match that to have a chance against the Thunder.
Expect extended expansion of Double-Big programming
The Warriors have faced Al Horford at the 4 at times over the last four games, and you can expect them to continue experimenting with that lineup on Friday.
This is more out of necessity than a bold strategy.
The Warriors only have 10 players available, and three (Horford, Trayce Jackson-Davis and Post) typically play center. Horford will therefore have to play some of his minutes at power forward while flanking Post or Jackson-Davis.
That said, the dual formation could be a good play against the Thunder. The last thing the Warriors can allow is for the Thunder to have a big advantage on the glass. In theory, the dual formation should help the Warriors in the rebounding battle.
