The Oklahoma City Thunder Have Their Own Lineup of Death
By Ti Windisch
Although the Golden State Warriors “Death Ball” lineup may be more famous, the Oklahoma City Thunder have their own version in the works.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are a great offensive team. That much is obvious–what team sporting Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and Enes Kanter wouldn’t be? The Thunder are second in the NBA in both points per game and offensive rating, which makes sense.
Their normal starting five has been great on both ends, outscoring opponents by 14.4 points per 100 possessions. That group–Russell Westbrook, Andre Robertson, Kevin Durant, Serge Ibaka and Steven Adams–sports an offensive rating of 106.7 and a defensive rating of 92.3 in their time together on the court thus far. That’s obviously excellent on both ends, and a big reason the Thunder are 16-8.
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Dion Waiters and Anthony Morrow are both better shooters and scorers than Andre Roberson is, but Roberson has been the everyday starter at shooting guard in Oklahoma City because he’s a much better defender than either of them. The same is true for Steven Adams starting over Enes Kanter.
Surprisingly, when Kanter is on the floor, the Thunder’s offensive rating decreases a little bit. The Thunder have a team offensive rating of 107.6. When he’s on the court, OKC scores 107.3 points per 100 possessions. It’s not a significant drop-off, but considering Kanter’s poor defense it was hoped he would add more to the team offensively.
There are five rotation players better than Kanter when it comes to offensive rating. Out of those five, three are guards and two are forwards. Despite lacking a true center, OKC coach Billy Donovan has played those five together this season. Granted, only for 34 minutes so far, but the results have been spectacular.
The lineup of Russell Westbrook, Dion Waiters, Anthony Morrow, Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka has been the best so far to play at least 30 minutes in Oklahoma City, posting an astounding net rating of +49.3. The Thunder have scored 143.6 points per 100 possessions with those five out there, and given up just 94.3 points over 100 possessions.
The defense of that lineup hasn’t dropped off much at all from the starters, mostly because Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka are all standout defenders. Opposing wings may have some space, but most teams simply can’t generate enough offense to keep up with the Thunder in that lineup.
This could be something that Oklahoma City relies heavily on in the playoffs. Even against teams with one great wing player, like James Harden in Houston or Kawhi Leonard in San Antonio, the Thunder could easily switch Westbrook onto a shooting guard or Durant onto a small forward on defense to at least partially slow down their opponent.
And really, that’s all they need to do with the offense they can generate with that lineup. Those five haven’t shared the floor often thus far, and it will be interesting to see if Donovan tries to fight fire with fire when the Thunder matchup with the Golden State Warriors in early February.
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Even if that matchup isn’t promising for Oklahoma City, expect to see Donovan begin to feature those five more and more going forward. They may not be quite as dominant as Golden State’s “Lineup of Death”, but the Thunder version might just be the second-strongest small ball lineup in the NBA this season.
The only discouraging part about this lineup is that Kanter isn’t involved. His role on this team is tricky–he’s not a starter, and he’s also not a part of the Thunder’s lineup of death. There is a similar lineup that’s done quite well too–Westbrook, Waiters, Durant, Ibaka and Kanter are the highest-scoring Thunder lineup, averaging 153.4 points per 100 possessions.
Unfortunately, that lineup surrenders a lot on defense, with a defensive rating of 104.4. Is that offensive jump worth enough to Donovan and Oklahoma City to justify the defensive drop-off?
It hasn’t been so far. Both of those lineups have played in eleven games. The Thunder are 8-3 when their lineup of death plays together, and 6-5 when the offensive-geared lineup plays. Granted the sample size is tiny for both groups, but it seems fairly sustainable for both of them.
Despite his max salary, Kanter doesn’t fit in starting or crunch time lineups for this team. He’s a superb offensive sixth man, but too much of a defensive liability to be on the court when the Thunder need a stop.
When Kanter is not on the floor, Oklahoma City has posted a defensive rating of 96.9. When he is out there, the Thunder have a defensive rating of 104.4. Considering the Thunder also score 0.6 points more per 100 possessions when Kanter sits, it seems obvious that he’s been a net negative for the Thunder so far, who are plus-11 without Kanter and plus-2.8 with him.
He may not be preventing OKC from being a great team, but it’s going to be very interesting to see how Donovan utilizes him–or doesn’t–going forward in crucial situations. Will the max money the Thunder’s notoriously-thrifty front office is paying Kanter force Donovan to use him more, and thus the lineup of death less?
In the regular season Oklahoma City can get away with doing that, but in the postseason, Kanter might not be worth playing much at all.
Kevin Durant wants nothing more than to win a title. Ironically, the signing made this offseason to keep him with the Oklahoma City Thunder may be the biggest reason he eventually leaves for greener pastures elsewhere.