Boston Celtics have no solution for Stephen Curry

All these years, playoff collection and particular person matchups later, there may be nonetheless no resolution for Steph Curry, essentially the most distinctive, transcendent celebrity basketball has seen in no less than 25 years. On paper, his present opponent has a protection that ought to be capable of make life much less comfy than most can, although.

The Celtics are constructed to short-circuit a lot of the spontaneity that makes him and the Warriors so singular. By way of the primary two video games of those NBA Finals, they’ve managed to just do that, right here and there, however Boston’s complete physique of labor towards the best shooter who’s ever lived leaves fairly a bit to be desired.

In the hunt for his first Finals MVP, Curry is averaging 31.5 factors, 5.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per recreation. He has six steals and 4 turnovers. His capturing splits are 45.7/46.2/81.8. When he’s been on the ground, Golden State’s offensive ranking is a scorching 120.6. When he sits, it plummets to 90.0, a quantity the Thunder can snigger at. All of that is over a two-game pattern measurement, however it’s nonetheless ridiculous.

Not like earlier battles towards Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jimmy Butler this postseason, Boston can’t depend on its elite particular person defenders to get bodily, contest pictures and induce isolation basketball. Curry calls for extra, typically requiring (no less than) two Celtics to work in tandem, be it guarding a pick-and-roll or chasing Curry off screens on the weakside. Impeding his progress requires a fragile stability, too—dedicate too a lot vitality towards stopping Curry and different Warriors will kick a gap within the door you’ve left ajar.

Right here’s a take a look at how the Celtics are attempting to maintain the two-time MVP in test, and a few alternative ways Curry continues to be managing to have his method.

Because the first quarter of Recreation 1, when it was arduous to acknowledge any practical defensive gameplan, Boston has labored by way of a mix of coverages, all counting on who’s immediately concerned and who else is on the ground. They’ve switched, dropped, fought over screens, introduced their bigs as much as contact, mushy doubled and aggressively helped off non-shooters, rolling by way of a number of completely different defenders on Curry at first of each play.

The target is apparent, as Celtics coach Ime Udoka communicated after Recreation 2. “Simply throwing further our bodies, relying on who was in sure spots on the courtroom,” he mentioned. “We have been selecting who we wished to double-team off, who we wished to modify off of and who performed extra conventional protection. Just a few issues to maintain him off stability.”

Total, Curry has had success no matter what’s in entrance of him, initiating ball screens at a excessive quantity with a number of dance companions, looking mismatches after which cooking them into vapor. “If I can get in these one-on-one matchups and be capable of play-make out of that and browse the protection properly, we are able to create plenty of good pictures,” Curry mentioned not too long ago. “So we’ll see the way it goes the remainder of the collection, however it’s been working.”

When these phrases have been uttered, Curry was most likely fascinated with Al Horford. The Celtics don’t want Horford on an island towards him for a wide range of causes. He isn’t fast sufficient to stifle dribble penetration, and when Boston is small, switches pull their finest rim protector away from the basket, forcing assist off Golden State’s lethal cutters.

Boston’s drops have been contact and go, however Derrick White and Marcus Good have completed a good job recovering again to Curry excessive. Right here, they get a cease after Klay Thompson decides to select on Payton Pritchard within the publish. However keep watch over Nemanja Bjelica, who units one other display screen on White as Thompson works within the publish and Horford drifts down to assist. Thompson isn’t identified for his imaginative and prescient and the choice to shoot isn’t essentially the worst one, however it goes to indicate how difficult it may be to cease Curry for a whole possession when the ball hops again to him after an preliminary win.

Even when Curry doesn’t rating himself, the anxiousness that precedes Golden State’s shot is palpable. When you gamble and knock your self out of place, ache will comply with. Right here, Curry will get the swap on Horford, and Good responds by doubling him. After they almost steal the ball, Horford faceguards Curry 30 ft from the basket, Jaylen Brown lunges for an interception, Jayson Tatum closes out a bit too scorching on Thompson and Andrew Wiggins attracts a foul on the rim. It’s the kind of chaos these Warriors love:

Elsewhere, a few of Recreation 2’s out of bounds performs yielded curious selections by the Celtics, the place Horford discovered himself on Curry from the beginning. No less than one among them was a mistake made by Good, the place Horford had no alternative however to step up and canopy Curry after they missed an apparent swap—which led to 4 Celtics making an attempt to cease his drive and Kevon Looney scoring a large open layup:

However then this different instance in a while within the third quarter makes little or no sense, with Horford and Rob Williams III masking Curry and Looney on the weakside. You may say Boston is anticipating a display screen that they will then swap, however that also doesn’t clarify how they’re matched up from the beginning (Williams III on Curry is even much less perfect). The result’s a present for an offense that doesn’t want any assist:

Whilst Curry appears to be like for a preferable goal, Boston isn’t the perfect protection within the NBA accidentally. All through the primary half of Recreation 2 they did a good sufficient job pre-switching onto Curry—even when they did luck out with Curry lacking pictures he’s clearly capable of drill. Watch Grant Williams on this play under.

Or Good proper right here:

Wanting forward, Boston nonetheless has a number of playing cards to play (along with simply executing their gameplan higher than they’ve). As efficient as Williams III has been serving to off his man (be it Wiggins, Looney or whoever) to guard the paint, beginning both Grant Williams or White in his place simplifies how they need to defend slightly bit. Boston can keep out of rotations, swap some extra and permit cleaner matchups. The Celtics mustered a nine-point lead within the first quarter of Recreation 2 and pointless turnovers are the first cause they coughed their benefit up, so Udoka will doubtless preserve the beginning lineup in place for Recreation 3. However downsizing from the beginning is the obvious alteration to make, ought to they fall behind on this collection.

Whether or not small or large, the Celtics might additionally put Tatum on Curry and Good on Inexperienced. All of the switching and cross matches make main assignments extra tangential than they usually are, however in set half-court conditions this places a bit extra size on Curry (useful when preventing over screens to hassle him excessive) and lets Good free security off Inexperienced. If the Warriors go to their Curry-Inexperienced pick-and-roll (which Inexperienced received an and-1 out of in Recreation 2 towards a dropping Horford), Boston can neutralize it with a swap.

Doing this forces Tatum to expend extra vitality than he in any other case would, however he’s additionally one among just a few Celtics with the foot velocity and size to maintain Curry on the perimeter. The Finals are taxing for a cause.

Living proof: simply take a look at this possession, the place Boston just about nails all the things—from the off-ball switching to Tatum’s assist off Inexperienced as soon as Curry drives by Grant Williams—and will get Curry remoted towards Brown with the shot-clock winding down. Ultimately it doesn’t matter.

Guarding Curry isn’t a play-to-play problem. It’s half-second to half-second.

If Boston desires to win the title, it’ll must reside together with his surreal shot-making and management all the things it may well. Meaning limiting all psychological errors, nailing each matchup after which avoiding turnovers and rushed pictures on the opposite finish to restrict his open flooring alternatives. All of that is a lot simpler mentioned than completed. Curry is that good. And thus far in these Finals, towards a protection that’s used to fixing each downside it faces, he stays unanswerable. 

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