Best Five-Man Lineups for Each Northwest Team So Far
Which lineup puts up the best stats in the Northwest Division? What five man crews could we see flourish in the playoffs? Read on to see which groups on each team have performed the best!
As we rapidly approach the All-Star break, coaches that have their teams positioned to be in the playoff field or in the play-in tournament begin taking a closer look at their lineups. The postseason version of NBA basketball is predicated on hunting matchups and finding the best way to stagger minutes so that the team is playing at its highest level for as long as possible. To that end, here are the statistically best five man lineups for each team, courtesy of advanced stats from NBA.com. Lineups were required to have appeared in at least five or more games and average at least ten minutes per game.
Image from Blazer’s Edge
Portland Trail Blazers
Lineup: G Malcolm Brogdon, G Toumani Camara, F Shaedon Sharpe, F Jerami Grant, C Deandre Ayton
Key Stats: +/-: -1.8, 25.6 PPG, 42.1% FG%, 40.3% 3pt FG%
Nobody expected the Blazers to be a competitive team once they shipped out franchise legend Damian Lillard and shifted into a rebuild. They are well below the .500 mark, but do boast some nice wins over Phoenix, Sacramento, Milwaukee and Philadelphia. That being said, even their best lineup has one major problem; it doesn’t contain Scoot Henderson. Blazers fans expected him to be better than he is, and his shortcomings are being emphasized because of the stellar play from Victor Wembanyama and the steady improvement of Brandon Miller. Head coach Chauncey Billups and the Portland front office have to know that if they are going to get back to where they used to be, Henderson needs to be a big part of it, if not the main piece.
Image from KSL Sports
Utah Jazz
Lineup: G Kris Dunn, G Collin Sexton, F Simone Fontecchio, F John Collins, F Lauri Markkanen
Key Stats: +/-: 1.2, 34.7 PPG, 9.6 APG, 52.3% FG%
The Jazz are one of the more underrated teams in the league, but their problems have been evident; they give the ball away far too often and give up too many points in transition as a result. Fontecchio has helped to staunch that bleeding, and he runs this group as a pseudo-point guard. Dunn is a premier defender who takes care of the ball. Markkanen was a near All-Star. This Jazz group will be one to watch as a potential dark horse in the play-in tournament who could give a top seed a good run for their money. They match up well with the Oklahoma City Thunder and as well as one could hope with the Denver Nuggets. If they continue to compete with this roster, they could be dangerous, but a playoff appearance and first round exit should be seen as a successful season.
Image from Lexington Herald Leader
Denver Nuggets
Lineup: G Jamal Murray, G Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, F Michael Porter Jr., F Aaron Gordon, C Nikola Jokić
Key Stats: +/-: 6.2 53.6 PPG, 13 APG, 3.2 SPG
You could have asked 1,000 NBA fans to predict the lineup that would be the best for the Nuggets at the beginning of the season. 999 of them would have answered with this group, the best starting five in the NBA outside of Boston, although they are closing that gap. Led by Murray and Jokić orchestrating a beautiful buzz-saw of a two-man game while Porter Jr. and KCP space the floor and Gordon cuts to the rim for lobs, Denver has shown the ability to slice and dice most defenses every night. The Joker and Co. have mastered the ability to operate under the radar and all of a sudden wake up and blow out top teams when they want to make a point. Their bench has been a bit suspect outside of Reggie Jackson, but it may be as big of a concern for head coach Michael Malone because his starting five has been that good. Look for the Nuggets to stagger their starters more to cover for the fact that this team is more shallow than in years past.
Image from MinnPost
Minnesota Timberwolves
Lineup: G Mike Conley, G Anthony Edwards, F Jaden McDaniels, F Karl-Anthony Towns, C Rudy Gobert
Key Stats: +/-: 2.9, 34.7 PPG, 12.8 RPG, 1.4 BPG
Who knew how important it would be for the Timberwolves to get Mike Conley in the three-team deal they were a part of with the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Lakers? He has been the conductor of this offense and his mature play helps to balance out the young flares and mistakes from Edwards and KAT. Add in that partnering him with Gobert helps to maximize his offensive game, and there is a solid argument that Conley has been the most important player on the team despite being the fifth or sixth-best player on his own team. Since drafting Towns in 2015, the Wolves have been a decent offensive team that was horrific on defense. This year, they have found that elusive balance and if they remain healthy, they might get much further in the postseason than they thought they were going to much sooner than they were supposed to.
Image from Sports Illustrated
Oklahoma City Thunder
Lineup: G Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, G Luguentz Dort, G Josh Giddey, F Jalen Williams, F Chet Holmgren
Key Stats: +/-: 2.3, 2.2 BPG, 33.6 PPG, 40.6% 3pt FG%
The Thunder have been abnormally healthy this season and this lineup shows it. These five have appeared in 40 games as a group and in those minutes, they have been good. A lot of that can be attributed to the fact that SGA is one of the best ten players in the NBA and Chet Holmgren has been every bit of the defender that general manager Sam Presti hoped he would be. It’s the play on the edges that helps push them even further, though. Luguentz Dort is a candidate to show up on an All-Defensive Team by season’s end and Josh Giddey’s playmaking has helped things run a lot smoother than four shooters spacing the floor while Gilgeous-Alexander goes 1-on-1 with the opposition’s best defender. OKC boasts the second-youngest roster in the NBA and finds themselves at the top of the standings. It will be interesting to see how the young guns react to the bright lights of the playoffs, but the Thunder aren’t going anywhere in the foreseeable future.
