Steph officially starting with Warriors’ new Death Lineup originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
After coming off the bench for the first four games of the Warriors’ first-round NBA playoff series, Steph Curry appears will return to the starting lineup in Game 5 against the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night at Chase Center.
The Warriors made the announcement roughly 30 minutes before tipoff.
A little over two hours before game 5, multiple sources told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Monte Poole that “all signs point” to the Warriors putting Curry back in the starting unit and moving center Kevon Looney to the bench.
The swap of Curry for Looney means that the Warriors’ new Death Lineup — Curry, Klay Thompson, Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green — will start together for the first time.
The Athletic’s Shams Charania first reported earlier Wednesday that there was “momentum” towards Curry returning to the starting lineup.
Curry suffered a sprained left foot on March 16 and missed the rest of the regular season. He returned for Game 1 against the Nuggets but was on a minutes restriction for the first four games. Warriors coach Steve Kerr said earlier this week that the two-time NBA MVP no longer will have his minutes monitored.
Per The Athletic’s Anthony Slater, the Curry-Thompson-Poole-Wiggins-Green lineup is a plus-26 in 32 minutes together in the series against the Nuggets.
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After jumping out to a three-games-to-none series lead, the Warriors dropped Game 4 in Denver on Sunday night and will look to close out the series at home.
The lineup change signifies Kerr is going for a knockout blow early in Game 5 by swapping Curry for Looney in the starting unit.
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