I have to admit, after their epic duel in Toronto, this was initially intended to be a piece focused on the Kawhi Leonard-Kevin Durant matchup. Alas, the Raptors’ best player was a no-go as he continues to recover from his strained right hip suffered in the loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. And so we make do, The Golden State Warriors, after all, do have another Maurice Podoloff Trophy winner and finding effective ways to slow down a man who has arguably changed the game more than anyone over the past five years goes a long way towards beating the Dubs.
In 16 regular season games heading into Wednesday night’s matchup, Stephen Curry has been an absolute nightmare to deal with for the Raptors. He’s averaged 29.8 points, 8.1 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 1.7 steals while shooting 46.9 percent from deep. That is his highest scoring output on a per game basis against any opponent, and considering his second highest points average comes against the Charlotte Hornets, it seems safe to say he saves just a little bit extra for his dad’s former teams. If you’re into betting on NBA games, consider that next time the two teams play.
With Curry having missed the first game of this season series, this game added the wrinkle of not only game planning for him but having to do so without the services of Leonard. Before Wednesday night, when the quartet of Curry, Klay Thompson, Durant and Draymond Green have been on the court together since July 4, 2016, the Warriors have held a plus-17 net rating in 1940 minutes together. To give you an idea of what the Raptors were going up against when both Curry and Green missed the Toronto fixture, Durant and Thompson are a plus-1.7 without Curry and Green on the floor in 938 minutes.
The impact the game’s only unanimous MVP winner has on his team is undeniable, so seeing that the Raptors held Curry to 10 points on 3-of-12 shooting, just two free-throw attempts, four turnovers and outscored the Warriors by 16 when he was on the court Wednesday means Nick Nurse and his men did quite a lot of things right. This was a man who, since returning from injury, averaged 31.4 points and made 29 three-pointers in just five games, so let’s look at some of the things that went right for the Raptors.
MULTIPLE BODIES
If you’re going to defend Curry effectively for the vast majority of the minutes he’s on the court, you’d better be able to use different bodies. Chasing him around from corner to corner through a ton of screens and defending all those crossovers when he’s got the ball up top can break even the best of defenders.
The Raptors played Fred VanVleet on Curry for the majority of the first quarter and third quarters, while Lowry picked him when his usual understudy sat. The crucial factor that allows this is Lowry’s ability to defend in the post, in combination with the fact that (Draymond) Green seems to have lost any ability to provide individual scoring. He’s now averaging 6.6 points and shooting 20.6 percent from beyond the arc through 15 games, and for now, it does dampen the pick your poison threat of the Warriors quite a bit.
Pascal Siakam and Danny Green also spent time on Curry in semi-transition or off switches, but outside of those scramble and transition opportunities, all were like a moth to a flame. In the halfcourt, the team was intent on going over screens and daring Curry to settle for the midrange, something that Serge Ibaka’s paint presence undoubtedly played a factor in as well.
After excelling in the midrange and making 61.3 percent of his field goal attempts in the 16-feet-to-3-point-line range last season, Curry is shooting 41.9 percent through 18 games this season. He’s also struggling in the 10-16 foot range, where after shooting 54 percent last season, he’s managed just 31.3 percent shooting in that range this season. Unless and until those numbers spike back up, this is an area you’re willing to concede.
The only times VanVleet and Lowry failed in sticking to Curry was when he was able to pull off his patented give-and-sprint-to-the-three-point-line.
It’s such a difficult move to defend against since, once he gets a step on you and drives towards the paint, you’re in scramble mode trying to catch up and the big is forced to step in or at least try and intimidate. That opens up the passing lane for Curry’s two man game, and buys him the separation he needs to sprint back behind the line.
In the second example, you’d probably like to see Green trust Ibaka on Draymond and scamper back out the line with Curry, but the Warriors are always forcing you into these split-second choices.
Another play where you’d likely have some gripes over is below, when Lowry and Siakam miscommunicate on a switch (Lowry takes Durant while Siakam doesn’t pick up on Curry) and the result is an open look that he fortunately misses.
MAKE CURRY WORK DEFENSIVELY
This was huge. Just as Draymond posting up Lowry is advantage-Raptors, Toronto has to ensure the Warriors are punished any time they try to hide Curry on someone with a size advantage. It was Danny Green over and over again on this night, and the veteran was sensational in making them pay.
While the play above was a perfect opportunity for Danny to seal Curry and gain excellent position underneath the basket, the fadeaway jumper below seems something that you might not be able to consistently depend on. If you can, kudos to him developing that aspect of his game, but even if you can’t, just making Curry put in that extra work has a big picture impact.
Below, again, I’m not sure how many times you’re going to have success having Danny Green dribble to his left and finish with his off-hand, but you had to figure this was the Raptors’ night when a shot like this fell under duress.
BEWARE THE AVALANCHE
First and third quarters are always a danger zone with Curry and the Warriors. That’s when he’s capable of dropping those 20-point quarters and completely altering the outlook of a game, and that’s where all the credit in the world goes to VanVleet for the tremendous dedication and effort he showed in sticking to his task.
On the season, Curry averages 9.1 points in 10.6 first quarter minutes and another 8.9 points in 11 third-quarter minutes. Again, he was held to 10 points, total, and his shot charts for those quarters tell quite the story.
Absolutely nothing in the paint. One of Curry’s close-in shots for the game came off an offensive rebound, while his two free-throw attempts were on a foul away from the play as VanVleet got a little too physical with him when trying to limit his movements side-to-side. That’s another big win for the Raptors.
As much as the crowd and his teammates may thrive off the energy of his deep threes, when he’s wreaking havoc in the paint and getting to the basket at will, there’s simply no stopping the Warriors. While Curry’s rise to MVP status the last few years has seen him significantly improve finishing in the paint, this year, he’s even taken his finishing from 3-10 feet up from 41.2 percent for his career to 57.5 percent this season.
The Raptors did a great job of taking away his easy twos, and for a player like Curry who depends so much on rhythm, he was simply just never allowed to get in one. Sure, there were a couple of shots he’d like to have back, but this is about as complete a job as you will see from a defense on the world’s best shooter.
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The only way Toronto sees Golden State again this season is in the NBA Finals, and as difficult a proposition as that may be, the Raptors will surely take getting that far. As Dwane Casey used to say about players when they did something you didn’t really expect, the Raptors told on themselves at Oracle Arena. They can defend like a title contender, and the expectation and standard has been set. Now it’s a question of maintaining it the rest of the way. That’s what champions do.
