The Golden State Warriors take the floor against the Oklahoma City Thunder today after the latter beat the San Antonio Spurs.
Has the Thunder eliminated the Warriors' "kryptonite" granting them an easier pass to a Finals return? Or is the Thunder the actual supermen in this match-up?
ESPN Insider had their experts dissect the Western Conference Finals and the possible outcome.
Before their predictions, one of the important factors that could make a difference in this series is the big men play of the Thunder. With Steven Adams and Enes Kanter on the floor together, the Thunder dominated the rebounds against the Spurs that turned the tide in their favor.
Jeremias Engelmann was one of the experts who named the twin towers as an important thing to watch. "Whether the Thunder will try their twin-tower lineup with Adams and Kanter and how the Warriors will try to counter it. In these playoffs the lineup has been an immensely efficient plus-28 in 66 minutes, thanks in part to a great offensive rebounding rate. The Warriors will want to involve Kanter in lots of pick-and-rolls to make the lineup less effective."
However, the Warriors have their own counter-measure that Kevin Pelton chose as the deciding factor.
"How frequently Golden State deploys the Death Lineup, and how well Oklahoma City deals with it," Pelton said. "For all the excitement about the Thunder staying big against the Warriors' small frontcourt in the first meeting, the Death Lineup was a major factor in Golden State's comeback win in OKC. Overall, it posted a 162.9 offensive rating and outscored the Thunder by 45.8 points per 100 possessions in 17 minutes."
He concludes: "The Death Lineup is basically Steve Kerr's cheat code to win close games in this series -- if he uses it."
The Death Lineup or "Small Ball Death Squad" (SBDS) is composed of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green. However, coach Steve Kerr has made some variations of that to cope with injuries. Shaun Livingston has sometimes taken over Iguodala or Barnes' role.
NBA analytics site Five Thirty Eight hypothesized that OKC's big lineup could beat the Death Lineup based on statistics. They point out that two of OKC's lineups managed to break even against the Warriors rosters with Curry and Green. To be clear, they are not predicting that the Thunder will win the series, but the twin tower lineup is a key for them to beat the Warriors. Of course, there are still many factors to consider.
Still, all five ESPN experts picked the Warriors to win-all the way to the title. Five Thirty Eight favored the Warriors with a 69 percent chance to win.