The saying goes “if it isn’t broken, don’t bother trying to fix it”. While that can be taken a myriad of different ways, when it comes to basketball, the meaning behind it is “don’t mess up what already works well”. When it comes to the playoffs, that’s especially the case: There is no need to tinker when something is going right, regardless of circumstances.

In some unique situations, however, what works may be the tinkered-with version already. That’s true of the current state of the Warriors. Since his return from injury, Steph Curry’s minutes restriction has kept him from the starting lineup, and Jordan Poole has stepped up as the new starting point guard. He’s put up a hyper-efficient 30 point and 29 point game in each of first two in the series against the Nuggets, and has shown he’s ready for the big moment.

Unfortunately for JP, however, the guy he’s not Steph Curry.

Steph put up 34 points in just 23 minutes of action in Game 2, playing only the last half of each quarter as a way to ease him back into the playoff environment after being out for a few weeks. Steve Kerr said this morning that because of his play, Curry will likely see a bump-up in his minutes tonight in Denver for Game 3. Whether he will return as a starter yet is unclear, but that’s inevitable: You don’t bring a two-time MVP off the bench when he’s still capable of MVP-level play.

Poole has been stellar as the starter, which presents an interesting case of whether or not he should remain in that starting role. It’s obvious that Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green will all remain in their starting spots once Curry is good to go on his minutes, which means one of two people are going to the bench should Poole retain his spot as well: Kevon Looney or Andrew Wiggins. Looney would be a tough swing because he’s key to making Nikola Jokic feel uncomfortable early, and Wiggins has never come off the bench in his career. It figures you should reward starting-calibre players with a starting spot, but you can’t start 6 guys, so who sits?

The question we should really be asking is, does it matter?

“Hopefully I’ve demonstrated that, at the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter” was Curry’s response when asked by The Athletic’s Anthony Slater on what his viewpoint of the starting lineup is. “At the end of the day, it’s on all of us to make the necessary adjustments, just to be ready, and to make it about winning.”

The full quote can be found here:

If the leader of the team thinks it’s not that imperative who’s name is called out by the announcers when the game goes live, it figures the rest of the team should reflect that. Steph Curry is no doubt the best player on the Warriors, and he’s made case after case each year that he could be the best player in the league. For him to come off the bench is an example of what winning players do, and that’s whatever it takes to win.

The ceremony of the regular season can be neat, but when it comes to the playoffs, it’s not about who plays what minutes or whether or not they’re on the starting lineup: It’s about what can you do with your minutes actually playing the game. If it does come down to Poole going back to the bench, which is definitely a possibility given the need for immediate size against a bigger Nuggets team, then it will be an important step in his maturation to realize that starting does nothing if he’s not playing his best ball.

“If you’re worried about anything other than just trying to win the game, you’re approaching it wrong to begin with” Curry said in a follow-up response on if there’s a statement to take from his coming off the bench.

Game 3 tips off on TNT at 7pm Pacific time tonight. Denver will play in their first home game of the series after getting shelled in Games 1 and 2. The biggest question will be if they can weather the Warriors’ newest superweapon, the Poole-Steph-Klay-Wiggins-Draymond lineup, and keep up the fight. If they don’t, then Golden State will take commanding control over the series, and it could be over as soon as it’s started.

(Photo credit: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)