Oklahoma City Thunder Must Also Cope with Stephen Curry's Shadow in WCF
The Golden State Warriors are a force beyond belief, when Steph Curry is healthy enough to stand on the court, whether he's dribbling the ball or drifting 35 feet from the action.
There is no hyperbolizing his positive impact.
Curry, a two-time MVP, is the first player in NBA history to join the 50-40-90 club while leading the league in scoring. Unprecedented accuracy from outside makes him a code-red-level threat. He summons the attention of all five defenders like nobody else.
The problem with that strategy is obvious: There are four other Warriors who deserve attention. It's why slowing down this offense—a blitzkrieg that averaged 116.7 points per 100 possessions with Curry on the floor and 102.9 without him during the regular season—is the most complicated task in NBA history, never more confusing than when their best player is (often indirectly) used as a decoy.
Curry is more devastating without the ball than some All-Stars are with it.
By sprinting along the baseline, running up to set a screen or just standing still in the corner, his every action creates panic.
Switching Is No Solution
This play from Game 4 against the Portland Trail Blazers encapsulated how Curry exhausts the competition's focus. Watch as Draymond Green set a screen on C.J. McCollum, freeing Curry up to race from one sideline to the other.
Instead of giving chase, McCollumn quickly passed the chore off to Damian Lillard before switching onto Andre Iguodala.
Just like that, the Trail Blazers were dead. Iguodala backed the smaller McCollum up all the way into the restricted area before eventually scoring off his own missed layup.
The phrase "pick your poison" has never been more accurate. In a non-Curry universe, inviting the opposition to exploit an unfavorable matchup is a cardinal sin. Against the Warriors, a closely contested three is worse than a layup.
Watch what happened earlier this season when the Warriors squared off against their Western Conference Finals opponent, the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Curry sprung off a down screen by Green. There's a split second when every guy in a blue jersey had eyes on him. Kevin Durant switched onto the perimeter while Curry's man, Kyle Singler, was too scared to disengage. Shaun Livingston hit the now-wide-open Green as he rolled to the hoop, and Russell Westbrook had no choice but to foul him at the basket.
Even if Singler didn't hesitate on the switch, the Warriors still have Green in the dunker spot against a weaker defender. It's a win-win situation for Golden State.
No Help for the Helpless
Sometimes the Warriors toy with the defense without running Curry off multiple screens or having him dart to an open spot on the floor. Sometimes he's simply the greatest decoy of all time. The subtlety is genius.
Other than the initial trap that set Golden State up with the 4-on-3 advantage below, there's nothing wrong with Cleveland's defense on this play; a switch here wouldn't have killed the Cavs.
Matthew Dellavedova started off glued to Curry's hip, as he should've been. As the action unfolded, Curry sauntered away from the corner to make room for Iguodala.
Green hit Iggy with a perfect pass, and the Warriors ran back three points richer. Dellavedova did the right thing on this play. As did LeBron James, who pinched in to take away the most efficient option on the table: a lob to Andrew Bogut.
Even when Curry is barely moving, his opponents show enormous respect. If Dellavedova were guarding, say, Goran Dragic, he'd zone up and shade toward the corner to take away the more destructive of the two options. Instead, he turned into Curry's shadow.
Screen and Troll
No defense is safe from Curry's red herrings, but he does even more damage as a screener. Flawless communication is required to stop the Warriors whenever Curry sets a pick on or off the ball.
Here's an example from Golden State's Game 4 win over the Trail Blazers. It starts with the Warriors' signature split action. Curry and Thompson screened for each other before bursting out into open space.
Mass confusion.
But as Thompson cut into the paint, Curry made a beeline to set a pick on Green's man. The Blazers had 0.2 seconds to react, and they executed a perfect switch that got Allen Crabbe in front of Green. Portland deserved an A-plus for execution, but sometimes A-plus isn't good enough to stop the Warriors.
Here's what happens when the execution isn't perfect.
This time, Curry set a back screen for Green, and Kyrie Irving's brain melted trying to decide whether he should switch or stick to the greatest shooter who ever lived. It's a tough call that deviates from any normal person's instincts when placed in that situation.
Still, as a result, Green wound up scoring an and-1 after Richard Jefferson was forced to help off Iguodala in the corner.
How Will the Thunder Deal with Curry's Shadow?
Heading into the Western Conference Finals, the Thunder have to answer a question no team in the league has yet to figure out: How do they guard this guy? Which player do they put on him? When do they switch?
Durant has had modest success during their three regular-season meetings this season, but asking him to chase Curry around on every defensive possession isn't tenable.
Give Andre Roberson the job, and suddenly Oklahoma City must somehow score with an impotent three-point shooter. Plus, the Thunder are at their best with traditionally large lineups, which already limits their spacing. Giving Roberson meaningful minutes hurts that objective.
So what's the answer? Thunder center Steven Adams has an idea that generally makes sense:
That strategy is much easier said than done. The Thunder switched bigs, such as Adams, onto Curry during the regular season, and he torched them—Curry made 37.5 of his contested threes in three meetings against OKC but also shot an absurd 46.4 percent on pull-up attempts beyond the arc, per NBA.com/stats.
Beside running Curry off the three-point line as often as possible and forcing him to make plays off the dribble against a collapsing defense, Oklahoma City's best option may be to guard Curry straight up with Westbrook.
Westbrook isn't a lockdown defender, but with the NBA Finals only four wins away, the Thunder should get their own All-NBA point guard to fight over screens and chase Curry off the ball every second both players are on the court.
This strategy may wear Westbrook down over time, but teams that have had the most success against Curry have locked an athletic guard to his hip and refused to let go. The two best examples are Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley and Detroit Pistons guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Westbrook doesn't have their length or instinctual anticipation, but he's a ridiculous athlete who should be able to contest every shot if he's committed.
Otherwise, the Thunder find themselves in the same position as every other team in the league: at the mercy of Curry's ability to hit shots.
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