No. 20 – 16
No. 20: Gallinari, W. Johnson, Jordan, Rivers, C. Williams (-26.0, 0-1)
Another starting lineup that was used just once, the Clippers ran this unit against the Minnesota Timberwolves in early December. An injured Griffin forced Gallinari into the rotation, although the move was short lived. The Italian forward would go on to start the next game against the Wizards, but would succumb to the same glute injury that kept him out until his return in January. This rotation posted a collective plus-minus of -38 in a losing effort, although bench efforts kept it below double-digits.
No. 19: Dekker, Evans, Griffin, Jordan, C. Williams (-24.9, 0-1)
Sam Dekker‘s lone start came against the Golden State Warriors, not exactly an easy task to handle. In terms of talent, it’s easy to see why this rotation faltered against the defending champs. Starting two rookies, plus Dekker, mixed with two All-Stars, is a strange combination. Still, he wasn’t the issue. In fact, he was the only starter who didn’t post a plus-minus in the negatives. Rather, Stephen Curry was, who went off for a team-high 45 points.
No. 18: W. Johnson, Jordan, Rivers, Teodosic, Wilson (-21.8, 2-0)
Rolled out in consecutive games against the Toronto Raptors and Orlando Magic, this rotation was able to add to the win column — but that shouldn’t be attributed to it. Once (or twice) again, the bench bailed out the starters, mainly because of Lou’s 48 points combined between the two. Johnson and Wilson dragged this group down against Toronto, combining to shoot 1-10 from the field. Similarly, versus Orlando, Johnson posted a team-worst -12 plus-minus rating.
No. 17: Griffin, W. Johnson, Jordan, Rivers, L. Williams (-20.8, 2-0)
Like the previous lineup, this rotation was sent out in consecutive games that both resulted in victories. And again, they were both almost entirely dependent on Williams. A mediocre effort by the starters against the Kings dragged their rating down, but they followed with a stellar performance against the Lakers in which Williams scored a then season-high 42. As Lou goes, the team goes.
No. 16: Griffin, W. Johnson, Jordan, Rivers, Thornwell (-20.2, 1-5)
Like others on this list, this lineup might suffer from the fact that it’s without a true point guard. By now, we know that Rivers is more of a scorer than a facilitator, as is Thornwell. We also need to keep in mind that these are all based off of very small sample sizes. Through this point, none of these rotations have started more than two games. Still, this rotation was thrashed by the Hornets, with the starters posting a combined -73 rating.