Golden State Warriors: Why Monta Ellis, Steph Curry, & David Lee Are a Big Three

Ever since Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili became the San Antonio Spurs' big three nearly a decade ago, the concept of a small group of stars surrounded by role players has been incredibly successful.

In the summer of 2007, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen teamed-up with Paul Pierce in Boston and the trio are still considered to be Boston's big three.

This past summer saw Miami acquire two huge pieces in LeBron James and Chris Bosh. The two joined forces with Dwyane Wade to make-up another Eastern Conference big three.

But perhaps there is another big three lurking in the shadows of a 9-16 record out west. That's right. The Golden State Warriors have a big three of their own.

Guards Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis combine with forward David Lee to make up one of the west's best trios.

The numbers speak for themselves. Golden State's big three account for 59 percent of the Warriors' scoring, 58 percent of their steals and 66 percent of their assists.

Also, even with two of the big three playing up top at guard, the trio still combines for over 40 percent of the Warriors' rebounding.

If that isn't enough, Curry (21.0), Ellis (18.9) and Lee (16.0) have the top three player efficiency ratings on the team.

The triple-threat is never more obvious, though, until one notices that each player leads the team in a specific area.

Ellis leads the Warriors in scoring (24.4), Lee leads the team in rebounding (10.1) and Curry leads Golden State in assists (5.6).

But all these telling statistics have been overshadowed by Golden State's recent struggles on the court.

After beginning the season 6-2 and looking like a possible playoff party crasher out west, reality quickly sunk in for the Warriors, who have lost 14 out of 17 since.

At 9-16, Golden State is 12.5 games back of San Antonio for first place in the conference, but just 3.5 games back of current eight seed, Phoenix.

But still, underneath the poor defense and unpolished role players, there is a big three in Oakland. I promise you.

Patrick Clarke is a student at Towson University and a writing intern for Bleacher Report.