Lineups without Curry and Durant

The Golden State Warriors are headed to their third straight NBA Finals with a perfect 12-0 record so far in the postseason. The Western Conference Playoffs were a breeze, but still one lineup has struggled for the Warriors.

Golden State usually starts the second and fourth quarters with Ian Clark, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Draymond Green and David West. Other than at the end of a blowout, it is the only minutes the Warriors play without both Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant.

Early on in the season the Warriors had Durant in that lineup so there would never be a time without an MVP on the floor. But in January, the Warriors switched up the rotation, putting Green in the second unit, and giving Curry and Durant more time on the floor together. Since then, Curry and Durant have played off each other great, but when they are both on the bench, the Warriors struggle to score.

There were a couple games where they made a run against the opponents bench unit, but in this series LeBron will be on the floor for most of those minutes. The Cavs are going to need to dominate those minutes if they are going to win the series. Also, putting out this offensively limited lineup against the Cavs gives them a chance to play their sharpshooters who are limited their defensively like Kyle Korver or Channing Frye. Against the Warriors best lineups, there is nowhere to hide a poor defender like Korver, so these might be only minutes he can stay on the floor.

The main reason this lineup has struggled to score is because the number one option has been off all postseason. After averaging 22 in the regular season, Thompson is down to just 14 points per game on 38 percent shooting. If he's not hitting on the catch and shoot then this lineup can get stagnant offensively. Knowing Thompson, all it takes is one big quarter for him to get out of his shooting slump and give this lineup some life.

Now the question is whether the Warriors will stick with this rotation or go back to having Durant play with the second unit. I think the Warriors will stick with their rotation to start, but if that lineup gets crushed and the Cavs take a lead in the series, Mike Brown won’t hesitate to stagger his MVPs and have one on the floor whenever LeBron is.