Warriors vs. Thunder: Damian Jones back in the starting lineup

The Golden State Warriors will start with a more unconventional lineup when they face the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight with Kevin Durant starting at power forward and Damian Jones being re-inserted into the starting lineup.

Jones was the starter at the outset of the season, but was removed from the starting lineup in favor of Kevon Looney. Warriors coach Steve Kerr has said that the coaching staff wanted Jones to be a bit more aggressive as a rebounder.

Rebounding will be even more essential in tonight’s game against a Thunder team that leads the league in offensive rebounding (28.2% of the available offensive rebounding opportunities).

Along with that little tidbit about Jones, starting with Kevin Durant at the power forward spot is also interesting against Oklahoma City. While not an outstanding offensive rebounder this season, Durant is third on the team in defensive rebounding behind the injured Green and Jonas Jerebko — with Green out, Durant is among the team’s best rebounding options in addition to being one the league’s best scoring options.

With Durant sliding over to the power forward, both Quinn Cook and Andre Iguodala will be starting tonight.

Here’s the full starting lineups for each team:

Give us your thoughts on the game and observations of the lineup change in the comments below.