Warriors Announce Surprising Starting Lineup vs. Timberwolves

With Draymond Green out for personal reasons, the Golden State Warriors will unveil another starting lineup they've never played before against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday.

The Warriors will start Stephen Curry, Pat Spencer, Buddy Hield, Jimmy Butler and Quinten Post.

The Timberwolves will be without Anthony Edwards due to a foot injury. He's being replaced in the Minnesota starting lineup by Bones Hyland.

Spencer's Starting Run Continues

It was expected that Pat Spencer would continue to have a decent-sized role after his excellent four-game stretch last week, but I'm not sure anyone expected him to start with Curry.

Spencer and Curry have rarely played together over the last two years, as both are 6'2" point guards. Having both on the court makes the backcourt quite small.

On the positive side, Spencer's ball-handling should allow Curry to get looks off the ball.

Earlier this week, Steve Kerr said he'd play Curry and Spencer "some and we'll see." It's clearly an experiment, so how it goes on Friday will likely have a big impact on how often they play together in the coming games.

In any event, Spencer has earned the promotion. In four games last week, he averaged 14.9 points on 59.1 percent shooting (75 percent from three), 5.8 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game. He made his first two career starts in the last two games, both of which the Warriors won without Curry and Green.

Warriors Catch Break with Edwards Out, but Frontcourt Depth Will Be Tested

The Timberwolves have one of the biggest frontcourts in the NBA. Jaden McDaniels (6'9"), Julius Randle (6'9") and Rudy Gobert (7'1") start, and 2024 Sixth Man of the Year Naz Reid (6'9") comes off the bench.

Even if Draymond Green and Al Horford were healthy, the Warriors would have their hands full. Without them, it'll be an even bigger test for starters Quinten Post (7'0") and Jimmy Butler (6'6") as well as Trayce Jackson-Davis (6'9") and Gui Santos (6'7") off the bench.

Without Green and Horford, the Warriors outrebounded the Bulls 51-38 on Sunday. But the Timberwolves are a whole different animal on the glass.