NBA: Warriors fightback could come from bench once more

Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James, right, drives against Golden State Warriors forward Andre Iguodala during the first half of Game 2 of basketball’s NBA Finals in Oakland, Calif., Sunday, June 5, 2016. AP PHOTO

CLEVELAND—A year after the Golden State Warriors made a change to the starting lineup that turned momentum in the NBA Finals, the reigning champions might turn to the bench again.

Despite a 120-90 blowout loss to Cleveland on Wednesday, Golden State owns a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series entering game four Friday (Saturday in Manila) with the scene shifting back to California for game five on Monday (Tuesday in Manila).

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Last year, it was in game four at Cleveland when the Warriors inserted Andre Iguodala into the starting lineup and won three games in a row to claim the crown, Iguodala providing defensive heroics against Cavaliers star LeBron James and solid scoring to take NBA Finals Most Valuable Player honors.

This year, Warriors coach Steve Kerr isn’t saying he plans to change anything, but as he noted Thursday, “Usually what happens is teams adjust after struggles.”

Golden State’s most lopsided playoff loss in Kerr’s two seasons with the Warriors could be enough reason to look at moving Iguodala back into the starting five, possibly again in place of Australian center Andrew Bogut.

“Wow, we just lost one game. Change the starting lineup?” Kerr said.

“All this stuff about, ‘Oh, my God, what are we going to do?’ All we have to do is take stock. We’re up 2-1. We’re in pretty good shape. We haven’t played that well. Let’s play better.”
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That often comes with changing up matchups, which Cleveland did when Kevin Love was forced out with a concussion. Richard Jefferson entered, James shifted roles and found his scoring spark and the Cavaliers ended a seven-game losing streak to Golden State.

“It’s always just are we going to be better off matchup-wise or are we going to be better off with a certain rotation that allows one guy to guard somebody specifically on the other team?” Kerr said of lineup changes. “We watch the film and we make that decision.”

And while Iguodala offers a faster lineup, Kerr likes the rebounding and shotblocking Bogut offers.

“Boges has done a good job for us in the series,” Kerr said. “We didn’t feel like we had to match what they were doing because of their change in their starting lineup. We can always make a quick substitution.

“I don’t think that had anything with us losing. We just got our tails kicked. We were soft. And when you’re soft, you get beat on the glass and turn the ball over. Those are the telltale signs. We can’t be soft in game four if we want to win.”

Cleveland’s Tristan Thompson expects to see Bogut against him inside the paint, but he does recall that Bogut played few minutes beyond game three in last year’s finals.

“Whoever they throw out there, we’ve got to be ready to play,” Thompson said. “It comes down to effort and looking at the guy in front of you and saying, ‘I’m going to make it tough for him. He’s not going to come in and kick my tail.'”