Warriors’ new starting lineup on ice with De’Anthony Melton’s ACL sprain: ‘It was really the perfect fit’

The Golden State Warriors thought they had settled on a starting lineup before point guard De’Anthony Melton. sprained left anterior cruciate ligament in Tuesday’s 120-117 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. In that game and their 127-116 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder two nights earlier, Melton started alongside Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis. That lineup, the sixth starting unit the Warriors have used this season, has logged just 13 minutes together all season, all of them in those two games, but outscored its opponents by 21.6 points per 100 possessions in that small sample.

‘It’s disappointing,’ Golden State coach Steve Kerr he told reporters at Thursday’s practice. “It really was the perfect fit. De’Anthony does a little bit of everything: on-ball defense, rebounding, 3-point shooting, playmaking. He fits perfectly, and that’s why we focused on him. So the fact that It’s going to be “The next game is a pain. “We’ve found some momentum and we’ll see how that plays out.”

Melton, who joined the Warriors on a one-year, $12.8 million deal in July, will be sidelined when they host the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday in their second game. NBA Cup match of the season. Beyond that, his status is unclear: The team announced Thursday that he would undergo further testing. “He’s obviously a really important player for us and the guy we envisioned and he’s done a good job as a starting point guard, so it’s a concern, but we’ll know more in the coming days,” Kerr said. However, if there is an unofficial timeline, Buddy Hield might have let it slip.

“He works very hard,” Hield he told reporters Thursday. “Every day, he comes in two hours early for his treatment, he works hard. For him to be out for a couple of weeks, we just have to stay the course with him, keep his faith, and when he comes back, come.” come back better. “We have a great coaching staff here.”

Kerr said he didn’t know exactly when the injury occurred during Tuesday’s game. Melton appeared to clutch his left knee in pain after a fall in the second quarter, but remained in the game and was on the court in the decisive moment.

Melton has already missed five games due to a lower back strain. He returned from that injury just a week ago. However, it was immediately clear that he complemented the rest of the Warriors’ starters extremely well. He’s an excellent rebounder for a guard, he’s a reliable shooter, and he gives Golden State the point-of-attack defense it needs.

Before Melton joined the starting lineup, Kerr had tried Gary Payton II and Moses Moody in his place. If the Warriors decide to prioritize size and spacing, they could go back to Moody. If they prioritize perimeter defense, they could go back to Payton. Kerr isn’t afraid to mix things up, and could decide to keep the fifth spot in the starting lineup fluid while Melton is out.

Fortunately, Golden State is perhaps the deepest team in the NBA. All season, Kerr has used an 11- or 12-man rotation, and said Thursday that he wanted to play Lindy Waters III against the Mavericks and Thunder, but couldn’t find a spot for him. The Warriors will miss Melton, but they have no shortage of rotation-caliber wings and won the five games he missed with a back injury.

“We have options, we have a lot of depth and we are very capable of filling in,” Kerr said, “but it’s very disappointing for him and for us.”