In NBA circles, we tend to make a big deal out of “benching.” A regular starter gets moved to the reserve unit, and it’s seen as a demotion, an indictment, an embarrassment.
But that’s not always the case. NBA coaches are constantly trying to find combinations that optimize their players’ talents. If they get halfway through the season and see that the starting lineup is wholly ineffective, it would be negligent for them to not even consider shaking things up. We saw this with Steve Kerr sending Klay Thompson to the bench last season, and more recently with veterans like Bradley Beal, Khris Middleton and Mike Conley.
“I can bring him in early, I can hold him out, I can run him longer, I can sub him for almost anybody,” Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said of his decision to bring Conley off the bench. “Trying to keep his minutes down and starting him and trying to get him to play with certain lineup combinations, all three of those things were not achievable at the same time. But now I feel like I can do that. And it’s better for him.”
Benching a player isn’t just about the starting unit — it’s about the second unit and the combinations the coach is able to put together. And luckily, to determine the effectiveness of those units, we have fancy advanced metrics at our disposal. The NBA makes lineup data readily available on their stats site, and it’s incredibly useful and eye-opening when considering which combinations of players are effective (yay, Oklahoma City Thunder!) and downright horrendous (boo, Washington Wizards!).
Here’s a look at the best and worst five-man, three-man and two-man combinations in the NBA so far this season.
Best five-man lineups
(min. 200 minutes)
| Celtics | Holiday, White, Tatum, Brown, Horford | 215 | 120.9 | 100.9 | 20.1 |
| Thunder | Gilgeous-Alexander, Wallace, Williams, Dort, Hartenstein | 250 | 118.2 | 100.6 | 17.6 |
| Pacers | Haliburton, Nembhard, Mathurin, Siakam, Turner | 363 | 115.6 | 99.9 | 15.8 |
| Clippers | Harden, Dunn, Powell, Jones, Zubac | 257 | 112.5 | 102.4 | 10.1 |
| Nuggets | Murray, Westbrook, Braun, Porter, Jokic | 227 | 127.1 | 119.8 | 7.3 |
Top dog: It’s not much of a shock that the Celtics have the top five-man lineup in the NBA, but you may have assumed that it would be their usual starting lineup with Kristaps Porzingis. Instead, the four regular starters alongside ageless wonder Al Horford is the one that has dominated the league. In fact, those four guys with Porzingis has actually been one of the worst units in the NBA (see below). Go figure.
Surprises: The starting lineups for the Thunder and Nuggets don’t come as much of a surprise, especially since they have the top two MVP candidates, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic, running the show. However, it may be a bit jarring to see the Pacers’ five-man unit third in the NBA, especially with a sparkling defensive mark of sub-100 points per 100 possessions while they rank 20th overall in defensive rating. Meanwhile, the Clippers’ lineup, which has started several games this season but obviously won’t be the first five when Kawhi Leonard is healthy, doesn’t exactly contain household names but has performed brilliantly.
Worst five-man lineups
(min. 200 minutes)
| Wizards | Poole, Carrington, Coulibaly, Kuzma, Sarr | 208 | 86.7 | 120.3 | -33.5 |
| Pelicans | Murray, McCollum, Jones, Murphy, Missi | 221 | 112.6 | 120.1 | -7.5 |
| Bulls | White, Giddey, LaVine, Williams, Vucevic | 250 | 106.7 | 111.8 | -5.1 |
| Bucks | Lillard, Jackson, Prince, Antetokounmpo, Lopez | 264 | 107.7 | 111.4 | -3.7 |
| Pistons | Cunningham, Ivey, Hardaway, Harris, Duren | 261 | 119.8 | 122 | -2.1 |
| Celtics | Holiday, White, Brown, Tatum, Porzingis | 208 | 114.8 | 116.6 | -1.7 |
Bottom dweller: Hoo boy. We knew the Wizards were really bad, but we didn’t know that they could be this bad. On paper, these might be Washington’s best five players, and they’ve been outscored by 33.5 (!) points per 100 possessions. As you can see, there is a Grand Canyon-sized gulf between them and the next-worst lineup. For reference, the league’s worst five-man unit with at least 200 minutes last season (the Nets‘ Spencer Dinwiddie, Cam Thomas, Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and Nic Claxton) had a net rating of minus-17. The Wizards have been almost TWICE as bad. Simply remarkable.
Surprises: Some of the league’s worst teams are at the top (Wizards, Pelicans, Bulls), but then things get weird. The Bucks’ unit has started more games than any other lineup, and yet it’s been entirely ineffective despite the presence of MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo and a resurgent Damian Lillard. It’s also pretty surprising to see the starting lineup of the Celtics, the defending champions (and still the betting favorites for this season), as the sixth-worst lineup in the league with at least 200 minutes. Replace Porzingis with Horford, and you have the best lineup in the NBA. Huh.
Best three-man lineups
(min. 500 minutes)
| Thunder | Gilgeous-Alexander, Wallace, Dort | 651 | 117.5 | 101.6 | 15.9 |
| Pacers | Haliburton, Nembhard, Siakam | 549 | 117.5 | 101.6 | 15.9 |
| Nuggets | Westbrook, Porter, Jokic | 644 | 127.5 | 111.8 | 15.6 |
| Thunder | Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams, Dort | 780 | 117.6 | 103.3 | 14.3 |
| Thunder | Gilgeous-Alexander, Wallace, Williams | 589 | 115.9 | 101.7 | 14.1 |
Top dog: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a winning machine, as evidenced by his name appearing in three of the top five three-man units this season. As always with OKC, the lineups are characterized by their stingy defense, but the offense certainly isn’t too shabby, either.
Surprises: Again, seeing the Pacers in there might be a shock to some. They’ve been extremely hot of late, but I don’t think many people would have guessed that Andrew Nembhard would be in the league’s second most effective three-man unit. As for the Nuggets, Nikola Jokic being in there is par for the course, but the name Russell Westbrook — nearly synonymous with offensive inefficiency for the past few seasons — is part of a group putting up an astonishing 127.5 points per 100 possessions alongside sharpshooter Michael Porter Jr. for optimal spacing.
Worst three-man lineups
(min. 500 minutes)
| Wizards | Poole, Carrington, Couliabaly | 527 | 96.4 | 116.3 | -20 |
| Wizards | Carrington, Coulibaly, Sarr | 590 | 98.5 | 117 | -18.4 |
| Wizards | Poole, Coulibaly, Sarr | 657 | 97.6 | 115.5 | -17.9 |
| Pelicans | McCollum, Murray, Missi | 520 | 108.9 | 123 | -14.2 |
| Blazers | Simons, Grant, Camara | 525 | 100.4 | 114.1 | -13.7 |
Bottom dweller: Well, after seeing the five-man unit metrics, this can’t be much of a surprise. The Wizards have the three worst three-man combinations in the entire NBA, with atrocious net ratings and abysmal offense. Bilal Coulibaly appears in all three, as he’s one of the most inefficient offensive players in the league who gets starter’s minutes. But remember, he’s only 20 years old and has already shown glimpses of his upper-tier defensive potential.
Surprises: The Pelicans have an awful record, but on the surface CJ McCollum and Dejounte Murray — two traditionally effective veteran guards — should pair well with Missi, a rim-running, lob-catching center who is in the mix for Rookie of the Year. The shortcomings have obviously come on the defensive end, where they’re allowing 123 points per 100 possessions. Again, that’s somewhat surprising given that Murray was once an All-Defensive selection and Missi is among the league leaders in blocked shots.
Best two-man lineups
(min. 1,000 minutes)
| Thunder | Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort | 1,079 | 118.8 | 102.9 | 15.8 |
| Nuggets | Jokic, Porter | 1,089 | 126.7 | 113 | 13.7 |
| Nuggets | Jokic, Braun | 1,109 | 124.9 | 112.7 | 12.2 |
| Cavaliers | Mitchell, Mobley | 1,015 | 116.9 | 106.1 | 10.8 |
| Celtics | Tatum, White | 1,090 | 117.1 | 107.1 | 10 |
| Nuggets | Porter, Braun | 1,121 | 122.4 | 112.6 | 9.8 |
| Knicks | Towns, Hart | 1,212 | 120.5 | 111 | 9.5 |
| Rockets | Brooks, Sengun | 1,013 | 114.8 | 106 | 8.8 |
Top dog: Was there ever any doubt? Gilgeous-Alexander, arguably the league’s best scoring guard, paired with Lu Dort, a brick house of a lockdown defender, equals unparalleled success on both ends of the floor. It’s also extremely notable that Jokic, the other leading MVP candidate, is part of the second- and third-best two-man combos in the league.
Surprises: It might be a bit of a shock to see a Nuggets pair on the list that doesn’t contain Jokic, but remember that Porter and Christian Braun are playing most of their minutes alongside the big fella, so that surely informs the statistics. We went a little deeper on this chart to show where the Knicks landed, and it was a bit of a shock to see Josh Hart as the second player next to Karl-Anthony Towns instead of All-Star starter Jalen Brunson. Similarly, some might be surprised to see that Dillon Brooks is a part of the Rockets’ best two-man unit, but the offense-defense dynamic seems to apply here as well, given he’s so effective next to Alperen Sengun.
Worst two-man lineups
(min. 1,000 minutes)
| Hawks | Young, Daniels | 1,078 | 111.1 | 114.1 | -2.9 |
| Heat | Herro, Adebayo | 1,100 | 110.4 | 111.9 | -1.5 |
| 76ers | Maxey, Oubre | 1,014 | 113.2 | 113.9 | -0.7 |
| Bulls | LaVine, Vucevic | 1,238 | 115 | 114.9 | 0.1 |
| Kings | Fox, DeRozan | 1,025 | 114 | 113.6 | 0.5 |
Bottom dweller: OK, now this is truly jarring. As we’ve seen, many of the league’s best units contain one standout offensive player next to one standout defensive player, so that should surely be the case for Trae Young — averaging 23 points and 11.5 assists per game — and Dyson Daniels, who leads the league in steals by a laughable margin. The fact that they’re the worst two-man unit in the league, for a Hawks team that’s basically .500, is hard to wrap one’s head around.
Surprises: If you would have polled 100,000 NBA fans, it’s hard to imagine you’d find a single one that would guess that Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo make up the second-worst highly used two-man unit in the NBA. Herro is an All-Star candidate having his most efficient season and Adebayo — while he’s struggled offensively — is one of the best, most versatile defenders in the league. It just doesn’t make sense, but the numbers don’t lie. Similarly, it’s surprising to see De’Aaron Fox and DeMar DeRozan, two of the driving forces on the red-hot Kings, land in the bottom five.
