MAVS 114, WIZARDS 120

[sterlingmallory]

What? The starting lineup is incredibly important.

Getting yourself off to a quick start and getting an early lead increases your margin of error later in the game. It's easier to maintain momentum than have to constantly dig yourself out of an early hole. Having one guy drag the whole lineup down like WCS or Powell just increases the burden on the other 4 players to start games. It affects rotations too. Not to mention, for players, being a starter absolutely is a status thing and thus important from a locker room chemistry standpoint. 

I think trying to reduce the argument down to well what matters is the score at the end of the game not the beginning of the game is simplifying things a little too much and ignores all the ways the starting lineup affects the whole team.