This is HOW To DEFEND Stephen Curry in the NBA Playoffs (Ft. Warriors, Green, Threes, & Torture)

Stephen Curry in these NBA Playoffs has beat every defense he has seen and the Warriors are in the NBA Finals, but is there a way to really defend Steph Curry? #NBA #Warriors #Curry

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We saw two polar opposite defenses on Stephen Curry. One by the Rockets in Game 6 and one in Game 1 by the Trail Blazers. Curry cooked the Trail Blazers alive. So I wanted to break down the best way to slow down Stephen Curry specifically in the playoffs and without Kevin Durant.

We’re gonna look at defenses that teams have used that haven’t worked and then defenses that seem like they have. Let’s first start with the two types of defenses on Curry we have seen in these playoffs. Since Durant has joined the Warriors, we haven’t seen the Warriors in the playoffs without Durant, but we have seen the core of Curry, Klay, Green, and Iguodala perform in the playoffs without Durant and so Curry has seen so many defenses geared to stop him as the main man in the Warriors offense. What the Rockets did in Game 6 was actually very similar to what the Cavs did in the 2016 NBA Finals. Curry would dump it off to Green and his abilities would take over from there. I broke down Draymond Green’s offense and defense in my last video so you might want to check that out. Either way, this defense would effectively take Curry out of the play, but leaves the defense to fail.

The Cavs tried various defenses, all in attempts to disrupt Curry and essentially make him uncomfortable. Easier said than done. Remember, Delly, the Curry stopper in 2015? Delladova earned his name for being pesky. But even so, Curry averaged 26 points in those finals off of 44% from the field and 39% from 3 so Curry wasn’t really stopped, but everyone sorta thought Hey, physical defense seemed to annoy Steph. (Show triggered Steph) but that didn’t mean that a single person is going to slow or stop Curry because Curry is not an iso-heavy player. Curry ran about 4.5 possessions of iso per game in the playoffs pre-Kevin Durant and only 3 possessions of iso per game in the playoffs post-KD. Defending Curry has always been a team effort and scheme.

The 2016 Cavs did a pretty good job at forcing the ball out of Curry’s hands and more importantly, having the bigs step up on a switch. This prevented the roller, usually Draymond Green from getting free and prevented a wide open 3 from Curry right after the pick. It created a mismatch between Curry and the big man which is not the best, but it’s also not the worst depending on the big man switched. Tristan Thompson had relative success in contesting 3s and not allowing Curry to simply drive by without some effort.

What the Rockets did last year was an interesting approach and one that seemed to wear down Curry. Curry only shot 32.5% from 3 which is his second lowest 3 point percentage in a playoff series for him. The Rockets attacked Curry relentlessly on the offensive end and as a team, constantly switched on the pick and roll. And Curry missed shots that he would normally make. There is only so much energy to expend and stars pick their moments, but with Steph, he is always moving off-ball on the offensive end so he doesn’t get possessions off. If he has to expend more energy on the defensive end avoiding the switch or playing on-ball defense on the best player, he can’t do as much on the offensive end. On top of that, he might get into foul trouble.

Off-ball is an entirely different story that has a simple answer. Don’t leave him open and don’t miscommunicate. That is extremely hard to do with all the off-ball screens, all the backdoor cuts, all the movement. There is one specific adjustment a defender can do at least stop some of his movement and that is to stay on his hip and force him one way. Curry will beat you if you are trying to figure out which way he’s going, but if you hold your ground and force him to cut only one way, you can at least direct him into the defense.

So yeah in short, there’s no way to completely shut down Curry, there is a way to slow him down and a best way to defend him, but we’ll see what happens in the NBA Finals and what new defensive schemes we see there. But what do you think? What’s going to be the finals matchup? Will Steph finally win Finals MVP?

Drop a like button for Steph Curry in these playoffs, cause he’s been special.

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