An easy analysis then is to sort the units by plus/minus to see which 5-man groups have been posting the best results.

Most Productive Five-Man Floor Units (full Regular Season, sorted by +/- rating)

#	Team	Unit	Min	Off	Def	+/-	W	L	W%
1	SAC	Bibby-Christie-Stojakovic-Miller-Divac	1067	2468	2175	+293	47	12	79 %
2	IND	Tinsley-Miller-Artest-O'Neal-Foster	527	1103	854	+249	24	7	77 %
3	HOU	Francis-Mobley-Jackson-Cato-Ming	970	1865	1702	+163	39	23	62 %
4	DEN	Miller-Lenard-Anthony-Nene-Camby	976	2037	1897	+140	31	23	57 %
5	LAL	Payton-Bryant-George-Malone-O'Neal	478	1054	918	+136	21	11	65 %
6	NJN	Kidd-Kittles-Jefferson-Martin-Collins	1017	1955	1820	+135	31	24	56 %
7	MIN	Cassell-Hassell-Sprewell-Garnett-Johnson	672	1365	1233	+132	25	23	52 %
8	DET	Billups-Hamilton-Prince-Okur-Wallace	696	1312	1188	+124	33	20	62 %
9	SAS	Parker-Bowen-Turkoglu-Duncan-Nesterovic	490	917	810	+107	29	22	56 %
10	IND	Anderson-Miller-Artest-O'Neal-Foster	310	628	522	+106	16	7	69 %
11	MIN	Cassell-Hassell-Sprewell-Garnett-Olowokandi	269	563	478	+85	20	6	76 %
12	SAS	Parker-Ginobili-Bowen-Duncan-Nesterovic	581	1133	1050	+83	27	19	58 %
13	DAL	Nash-Finley-Jamison-Walker-Nowitzki	263	609	534	+75	24	15	61 %
14	MIN	Cassell-Hoiberg-Sprewell-Garnett-Madsen	171	381	310	+71	24	12	66 %
15	GSW	Pietrus-Richardson-Dunleavy-Robinson-Dampier	232	448	378	+70	7	5	58 %
16	UTA	Arroyo-Stevenson-Harpring-Kirilenko-Ostertag	302	612	543	+69	12	5	70 %
17	HOU	Francis-Mobley-Jackson-Taylor-Ming	463	929	863	+66	31	27	53 %
18	SAC	Bibby-Jackson-Stojakovic-Miller-Divac	105	253	188	+65	16	4	80 %
19	DET	Billups-Hamilton-Prince-Williamson-Wallace	216	459	395	+64	23	16	58 %
20	POR	Stoudamire-Anderson-Miles-Randolph-Ratliff	511	986	924	+62	15	14	51 %
21	GSW	Claxton-Richardson-Cardinal-Robinson-Dampier	126	288	229	+59	7	2	77 %
22	POR	Stoudamire-Anderson-Miles-Randolph-Wallace	131	286	227	+59	7	2	77 %
23	GSW	Claxton-Cheaney-Dunleavy-Cardinal-Robinson	57	135	81	+54	11	1	91 %
24	MIN	Cassell-Hassell-Sprewell-Garnett-Miller	119	259	205	+54	16	6	72 %
25	MIA	Alston-Jones-Butler-Odom-Grant	358	714	661	+53	20	11	64 %
26	MEM	Watson-Battier-Posey-Outlaw-Wright	72	141	89	+52	9	4	69 %
27	LAL	Payton-Bryant-Fox-Malone-O'Neal	279	600	548	+52	9	5	64 %
28	DET	Billups-Hunter-Prince-WallaceR-Wallace	72	147	96	+51	4	2	66 %
29	SAC	Bibby-Christie-Stojakovic-Webber-Miller	217	462	412	+50	9	7	56 %
30	DET	Billups-Hamilton-WallaceR-Williamson-Wallace	60	132	83	+49	8	1	88 %

Now, if you scale things to a plus/minus per 48 minutes, the rankings change quite a bit, but given that many units have only played a small time together for the most part it makes sense to use totals. Also, a unit that can play long stretches with exceptional results is truly valuable, since it means that in spite of the opposition trying to find mismatches and the "answer" to that lineup combo, they still dominate.

By that measure, it's the Sacramento Kings boasting the top cumulative plus/minus group, with the pre-Webber return starting five of Bibby-Christie-Stojakovic-Miller-Divac. Now it is hard to overlook that the #2 ranked unit almost caught them in less than half the total floor time -- we're talking of course about the mighty Pacers and their optimal five, complete with a healthy 24-7 (77%) game by game won lost.

Several of the top units are not even the "preferred starting five" in the eyes of the team head coach! The Kings have three of the top thirty most productive +/- units, but we will probably see the #29 group getting more minutes together than the #1 or #18 in the post-season.

With the Lakers, they only had all four of their "hall of famers" in the lineup together for select portions of the regular season, but with either Fox or George as the fifth wheel, they are a formidable group.

The Rockets and Nuggets round out the top five. For the Rockets it's particular interesting in that their most used lineup ran up a whopping +163 number, but their third most used lineup posted a worst in the league 5man stat of -80 in 315 minutes! What a difference a player (or a Yao Ming) can make.

The Pistons meanwhile have some formidable 5-man units with recent arrival Rasheed Wallace, but surprisingly have the #8 lineup for the season without Rasheed. Portland found a winning combo with Wallace right before he was traded, but had another good one post-trade incorporating Ratliff's skills.

The Warriors had three of the top thirty (and four of the top fifty) units. Injuries stuck several times for Golden State just when a group had come together and was clicking, sending the coaches back to the drawing board to look for the next alternative.

For the extra details on why units are working, look at the following numbers:

Top Five-Man Floor Units, Details

#	Unit	eFG	eFGA	FTA	Close	dClose	Reb	T/O
1	Bibby-Christie-Stojakovic-Miller-Divac	.568	.494	+153	36%	29%	95%	0%
2	Tinsley-Miller-Artest-O'Neal-Foster	.522	.436	+72	30%	32%	99%	+7%
3	Francis-Mobley-Jackson-Cato-Ming	.508	.429	-36	32%	30%	102%	-4%
4	Miller-Lenard-Anthony-Nene-Camby	.496	.488	+61	44%	38%	103%	+2%
5	Payton-Bryant-George-Malone-O'Neal	.531	.463	+119	47%	30%	102%	0%
6	Kidd-Kittles-Jefferson-Martin-Collins	.478	.463	+133	40%	32%	99%	+3%
7	Cassell-Hassell-Sprewell-Garnett-Johnson	.517	.443	-42	22%	32%	94%	+1%
8	Billups-Hamilton-Prince-Okur-Wallace	.452	.443	+82	38%	35%	104%	+3%
9	Parker-Bowen-Turkoglu-Duncan-Nesterovic	.496	.416	-5	36%	29%	104%	+1%
10	Anderson-Miller-Artest-O'Neal-Foster	.494	.449	+41	33%	37%	107%	+4%
11	Cassell-Hassell-Sprewell-Garnett-Olowokandi	.523	.430	-8	19%	30%	100%	0%
12	Parker-Ginobili-Bowen-Duncan-Nesterovic	.491	.459	+31	37%	32%	102%	+1%
13	Nash-Finley-Jamison-Walker-Nowitzki	.509	.478	+4	32%	34%	102%	+3%
14	Cassell-Hoiberg-Sprewell-Garnett-Madsen	.538	.435	-22	21%	36%	104%	+5%
15	Pietrus-Richardson-Dunleavy-Robinson-Dampier	.500	.390	+2	37%	32%	106%	-2%
16	Arroyo-Stevenson-Harpring-Kirilenko-Ostertag	.529	.466	+20	41%	37%	108%	-1%
17	Francis-Mobley-Jackson-Taylor-Ming	.525	.448	-36	34%	29%	98%	-5%
18	Bibby-Jackson-Stojakovic-Miller-Divac	.534	.434	+21	35%	24%	102%	+3%
19	Billups-Hamilton-Prince-Williamson-Wallace	.477	.446	+46	42%	35%	107%	-3%
20	Stoudamire-Anderson-Miles-Randolph-Ratliff	.508	.472	+28	36%	36%	100%	-1%
21	Claxton-Richardson-Cardinal-Robinson-Dampier	.550	.474	+18	41%	32%	104%	+1%
22	Stoudamire-Anderson-Miles-Randolph-Wallace	.607	.433	-5	33%	35%	93%	+2%
23	Claxton-Cheaney-Dunleavy-Cardinal-Robinson	.571	.414	+9	25%	21%	125%	+7%
24	Cassell-Hassell-Sprewell-Garnett-Miller	.558	.390	+16	29%	32%	95%	-3%
25	Alston-Jones-Butler-Odom-Grant	.502	.476	-16	37%	25%	102%	+3%
26	Watson-Battier-Posey-Outlaw-Wright	.533	.320	+6	42%	27%	99%	+8%
27	Payton-Bryant-Fox-Malone-O'Neal	.519	.442	+45	45%	28%	97%	0%
28	Billups-Hunter-Prince-WallaceR-Wallace	.473	.372	+33	35%	28%	107%	+10%
29	Bibby-Christie-Stojakovic-Webber-Miller	.504	.434	-5	36%	35%	92%	+4%
30	Billups-Hamilton-WallaceR-Williamson-Wallace	.531	.309	+12	43%	34%	100%	+7%

Legend: Min = the percentage of the team's total minutes the unit was on the floor. +/- = the team net points for the unit. W = number of games a unit outscored its opponents while on the court. L = number of games a unit was outscored by its opponents while on the court. Win% = the winning percentage for the unit based on Wins versus Losses. eFG = the effective shooting percentage, adjusted for the value of 3-point shots. eFGA = the effective shooting percentage allowed to opponents. FTA = net free throw attempts per 48 minutes. Close = the percentage of shots taken from close range. dClose = the percentage of opponents' shots taken from close range. Reb = the rebound percentage for the unit, based on off. reb% + def. reb% T/O = the net turnover percentage for the unit based on opponent turnovers minus unit turnovers.