![]() ![]() Meanwhile, the Warriors put these games out of reach, essentially clinching the Finals in those moments. James scored on just two of the 10 possessions in Game 1 and neither of the two in Game 3. (On the other two, the Cavs faked like they were hunting the Curry switch, but attacked the Warriors defense before the switch could be made.) With Game 3 in the balance, James attacked the Curry mismatch on back-to-back possessions with under two minutes to go. In Game 1, James attacked the Curry mismatch on 10 of 12 possessions from the three-minute mark of the fourth quarter to the two-minute mark of overtime. There have definitely been several possessions when the Cavs got the Curry switch and LeBron scored, but Curry wasn’t credited as the primary defender-like this and-1 bucket from Game 1, when James blew by Curry and got fouled by help defender Kevon Looney, or this dunk from Game 1, when James blew by Curry and dunked over Kevin Durant.īut on almost every possession, the Cavs are having James go at Curry, with relatively little to show for it. Here’s where I have to admit the NBA.com/Stats data from earlier is a little wonky. In the final minutes of these Finals games, they are actively hunting the Curry mismatch. The Cavs are trying to do the same thing. During the Western Conference finals against Houston, Curry acknowledged that the Rockets were likely going to attack him “on every single play,” and Houston coach Mike D’Antoni said that going after Curry was “obviously one of our things we like to do.” James Harden scored 51 points in 87 possessions with Curry as his primary defender, hitting six 3s and 15 free throws. Here’s one possession from Game 6 of the 2016 Finals when everything broke down and Curry ended up one-on-one with LeBron-it went poorly:īut this year, Golden State has often chosen to switch every screen on defense and live with the results, even if that means Curry will wind up guarding somebody he shouldn’t. Ahead of last year’s Finals, Mike Prada of SB Nation addressed the premise of Curry guarding LeBron in a pick-and-roll with a simple “not happening.” BBallBreakdown examined several of the schemes Golden State cooked up to deal with Cleveland’s attempts to get Curry to switch onto LeBron-most of which did not involve Curry serving as LeBron’s primary defender. Presumably, James can back Curry down for a bucket, use his first step and muscle to power past him, or simply shoot over the teensy superstar.Īs such, the Warriors used to go to great lengths to avoid the Curry-LeBron matchup. He routinely breaks down the best defensive players in the league and should easily be able to attack the weakest Warriors. James is a dynamic playmaker who has 7 inches and 60 pounds on Curry. When the other team has the ball, Golden State wants to hide Curry so he can preserve his energy, stay out of foul trouble, and keep launching 3s at the other end.Īnd when the other team has LeBron James, Golden State definitely wants to hide Curry. Curry is probably a little underrated because we don’t want to think of the baby-faced gunner as being an intimidating defensive presence, but still, he is generally the worst defender on the floor for the Warriors. But that’s what he should be doing as part of this Warriors team, alongside the long arms of Kevin Durant, the defensive genius of Draymond Green, and the perimeter locksmanship of Andre Iguodala and Klay Thompson. He rarely faces the best players on opposing teams and much prefers to gamble for steals rather than defending players straight up. The Warriors’ Defensive Switching Strategy Is a Personal AffrontĬurry’s defensive reputation is complicated. This from a player averaging 37.7 points in the Finals-but, apparently, zero against Golden State’s worst defender. He’s taken five shots, missing all five, and he’s never been fouled in the act of shooting. In the 26 times this has happened, James has zero points. These possessions have come primarily toward the ends of games, when James methodically slows the offense, points at Curry’s man, and calls for a screen, at which point the Warriors’ switching defense demands Curry switch onto James. But the Warriors are allowing the mismatch to take place-and James, who has scorched everybody in his path all series long, has struggled to score when getting his (allegedly) most favorable matchup.Īccording to NBA.com/Stats, James has had 26 possessions with Curry as his primary defender in the first three games of the Finals, almost nine per game. Check out The Ringer’s coverage of the 2018 NBA playoffsīut something odd has happened in these Finals: In critical situations, the Cavs have sought to force Curry to guard James, just as they have in the past three. ![]()
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