Before this season started there were a lot of questions about how the Thunder’s guard-heavy lineup would work.
Turns out, it works just fine.
Although Terrance Ferguson continues to get the starting nod over Dennis Schroder, Oklahoma City is at its best when it’s five on the floor are Schroder, Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, and Steven Adams.
Per Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman, those five aren’t just the best lineup for the Thunder, they’re statistically the best lineup in the NBA, that according to the net rating of lineups that have played a minimum of 100 minutes.
With Paul, Schroder and Gilgeous-Alexander sharing backcourt duties, Gallinari stretching the floor as a power forward and Adams manning the paint, the Thunder is outscoring opponents by 31.4 points per 100 possessions.
That’s more than 10 points per 100 possessions better than the second group, “Utah’s combination of Donovan Mitchell, Joe Ingles, Royce O’Neale, Bojan Bogdanovic and Rudy Gobert. The Jazz is outscoring opponents by 21 points per 100 possessions with that pairing.”
While the lineup may be the best in the league, they don’t play together often, averaging only 3.9 minutes together per game. That’s because of their lack of size.
But, as noted by Mussatto, that group has been far from a defensive liability.
Among lineups that have logged at least 100 minutes, the Paul, Schroder, Gilgeous-Alexander, Gallinari and Adams partnership has the sixth-best defensive rating in the NBA.
It is allowing 96.5 points per 100 possessions while scoring a league-high 127.9 points per 100 possessions.
This lineup may not be together long as Paul, Gallinari, Adams, and even Schroder have the potential to be traded. But they’re certainly making the most of the time they’re playing together.
