While it may seem easy to explain at first, the dramatic difference in terms of success for the Warriors’ “Bench Mob” and their starters carries its own burdens and lessons.

As has been noted by numerous Warriors writers in both print and online (with a special hat tip to Tim Kawakami, who has championed the cause, especially in Tuesday’s post-game press conference), the single best five man line-up the Golden State Warriors have played this year has been one with Nate Robinson, Brandon Rush, Klay Thompson, Dominic McGuire and Ekpe Udoh. According to the venerable 82games, that group has had a better +/- than any two other combinations combined despite playing about half as many minutes together as the starting lineup. Incidentally, the starting lineup the Warriors have used most frequently and has also played by far the most time together has a plus/minus of zero this season, meaning they have exactly tied their counterparts this season (despite carrying a Win% of 42.8, substantially less than 50%). Naturally, a result that shocking necessitates a reaction and an explanation.

The biggest explanation for the majority of the season has been sample size and uneven sampling, sample size’s spiritual partner. In effect, the argument against the bench production is that the Robinson-Rush-Thompson-McGuire-Udoh lineup does not play as many of their minutes against opponent’s best lineups. To put it bluntly, this concept worked pretty well going into last night and still provides the most cohesive explanation for what has happened. Since the Bench Mob has only appeared in the game together for 52.6 minutes, which represents approximately three minutes per game. This number represents about half of the time the standard starting five has played together despite the injuries that group has faced this short season. Considering absolutely none of those minutes were at the start of games (guaranteed time playing against the other team’s starting lineup) and almost none were at the very end of games (likely against the other team’s best five). As such, it stands to reason that a lineup which spends little time on the floor in those circumstances has a lower chance of playing the best the opponent has to offer.

However, much of that changed with Tuesday’s performance against Sacramento. Now, it must be said that one game represents a laughably small sample size, especially when that one game is against a Kings team that is quite unusual. With those caveats in place, the difference in performance between the starters and the Bench Mob was shocking to say the least. When the starters appeared to be ready to lose a disheartening game to one of the rawest and worst teams in the league, the bench stepped up and played their best game of the young season. Looking at the stats is one thing; watching the Sacramento game was another. As someone who has criticized Golden State’s horrific shot selection all season, there was no room to complain about that with the Bench Mob because they were creating and making good shots. What’s more, they were not allowing the Kings to get the same easy looks the starter-heavy lineups were permitting.

All of these developments fit together with a theme that has run through Mark Jackson’s short tenure as the Warriors coach- the concept of “motor.”

After Friday’s loss to Oklahoma City, Jackson mentioned that the Thunder had “another gear” compared to both other Golden State opponents and the Warriors themselves. Partially thanks to their role and the minutes they play, the bench has a different level of intensity in a vast majority of the games they get meaningful playing time.

Beyond that, Brandon Rush made a clear point after the game to specify that he likes playing with the other four as a unit. This makes for an interesting issue for Jackson because creating a bench that likes playing as a unit (instead of commingled with the starting lineup) that actually outplays the rest of the team warrants explanations the longer it continues. On top of that, Rush’s concept raises an interesting point about the direction of the team: he specifically noted that he liked playing with defensive talent and players who could offensively rebound. Remember: this Warriors team is dead last in the NBA in Rebounding Rate (and towards the bottom of the league in Offensive and Defensive Rebound Rate, the overall stat’s two components) and starts three core players who are weak defenders at best.

On top of that, the ball movement other than terrible shots of the second unit has been surprisingly good, fueled by nice passing and effort from Klay Thompson and Dominic McGuire. McGuire is both the Warriors’s best defensive player (Jackson called him their best perimeter defender after the Kings game) and their most underrated offensive facilitator while Klay Thompson seems to slowly be finding himself with this unit. The question that persists is that while it makes sense for Jackson to use different sets for his two units, which he said yesterday, why is it that the backups are dramatically better at the areas where the starters are flawed, potentially fatally so?

To be clear, I am not saying that the Bench Mob has more talent or is better than the starting five- the point is that the exact things the team is missing on the top of the salary pyramid are what has fueled the Bench Mob’s success. Hopefully the legacy of this unit is that it teaches the brass that how you make a team that plays better together is by accumulating pieces that fit both together and against what opponents will try to do. That philosophy helped build the We Believe team and has been a primary culprit in the organization’s lack of success before and after that season- it’s time for the bottom to teach the tippy top this lesson again and have it stick this time.