Curry testing Celtics’ D
“Steph Curry is pretty good, if you guys haven’t noticed,” Celtics guard and Cal alum Jaylen Brown said Sunday. “I feel like he’s taking it up a notch in the Finals. He had a hell of a performance in Game 4, and we have to respond to that.”
Brown is right about Curry raising his game on the NBA’s biggest stage. He averaged 25.5 points in the regular season and 25.9 in the first three rounds of the playoffs. He’s shooting 50% from the field and 49% beyond the arc in the Finals, an uptick from his regular-season averages (44% and 38%).
Or put it this way: Curry, scoring 34.3 per game, is averaging nearly twice as many points in the Finals as the next highest-scoring Warriors player (Klay Thompson at 17.3).
This raises a natural question for Monday night’s game: Will the Celtics adapt their approach to defending Curry? They’ve mostly avoided double-teaming him, even when the Warriors set high screens.
Boston head coach Ime Udoka did not sound inclined to shift gears in the wake of Curry’s splashy Game 4 performance. The Celtics, who ranked No. 1 in defensive rating most of the season and who boast defensive player of the year Marcus Smart, seem more interested in not letting Thompson, Andrew Wiggins or Jordan Poole get rolling alongside Curry.
As Udoka pointed out, the Warriors scored 107 points (not an outlandish total) in each of their two Finals wins. Curry is posting big numbers, but the Celtics are worried about their offense more than their defense.
“We haven’t gone after him much, honestly,” Udoka said.
“Some of that is due to the personnel he has behind him and the playmakers he has. We rely on our one-on-one defense. Our guys use their length to contest, and then our bigs being up (on pick-and-rolls).
“He’s made some tough shots, no doubt. I think the numbers look skewed when he hits some other ones in transition or miscommunication. … The defense has been fine. Just continue to make him work and trust what we’re doing, allowing him to get some looks but kind of containing everybody else.”
Curry clearly doesn’t expect radical changes from Boston’s defense. The Celtics have three elite defensive players in Smart, Brown and Jayson Tatum, a solid defender in Al Horford and an imposing rim protector in Robert Williams III.
Udoka hinted at only one potential tweak: Maybe having the player being screened pick up Curry slightly farther from the basket, given his shooting range.
“They have a certain defensive identity that has been successful for them,” Curry said. “You obviously understand adjustments can happen on the fly between games, and we’ll be ready for that. But for us to be successful and win two more games, it comes down to the way we defend and bring intensity, especially to start games.”
As Curry also pointed out, the Celtics are especially strong after they’ve been knocked down. Boston is 7-0 after a loss in the playoffs, winning those games by an average margin of 15.6 points. (The Warriors are 6-0 after a loss, winning by an average of 14.5).
Other numbers illustrate the significance of Monday night’s game. Of the 30 previous times the NBA Finals have been tied 2-2, the winner of Game 5 has gone on to take the series 22 times (73%).
Or, viewed through a Warriors lens, this is the fifth time in the Steve Kerr era that Golden State has been tied 2-2 in a playoff series. The Warriors have won Game 5 three times and lost once; they went on to win the series all four times.
This latest test will be decided by many factors, of course. Can the Warriors’ defense contain Tatum and Brown? Will Green play better? Will Thompson, Wiggins or Poole provide Curry with enough offensive help?
Curry’s production doesn’t seem to be much of a question, partly because of his perpetual movement off the ball. That complicates the defensive challenge for the Celtics, making it more difficult for them to swarm him.
“He doesn’t just stop,” Udoka said. “And they all are hunting shots for him, as you saw when we switched a little bit. … I think the fact he’s such a willing and good playmaker makes it tougher to go after him.”