NBA Finals 2015: Can Kyrie Irving guard Steph Curry?

By FanSided Staff | Jun 2, 2015

Jan 9, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) drives past Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) in the third quarter at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 112-94. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports /

With the NBA finals set to blast off on June 4th, the match up between Kyrie Irving and Steph Curry is getting pretty hyped up.

Steph Curry is one of the most dynamic scorers in the NBA right now. Your 2014-15 NBA MVP is pretty tough to guard. But will he finally meet his match in the NBA Finals as he gets locked up by Kyrie Irving? I highly doubt it.

The Golden State Warriors have relied on Steph Curry all season long in the points category on the stat sheet. Curry can dribble through opposing defenses, make insanely difficult passes, and nail jump shot after jump shot with just the slightest space given to him. We really haven’t seen such a prolific offensive player with the scoring style of Curry in the history of the game.

The things he can do with the basketball with such fluidity are impressive to watch. This year he put up highlight after highlight leading the Golden State Warriors to the best record in the NBA. And it was mostly because he knew how to put the ball in the bucket. The dude just has a knack for scoring.

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So is he un-guardable?

Few are in the history of the game. Even Michael Jordan had an off night (even though it was seldom). On top of that, Curry relies on his jump shot more than any of the great scorers before him. Which means if his shot isn’t falling, the Warriors better hope someone else can either get in the paint or Curry can draw enough defenders towards him to set up his teammates for easy buckets.

So then the next question is, can Kyrie Irving stop him?

Probably not from the looks of things. Irving tried to lock up Curry two times this season, both of which Curry put up impressive numbers. In their first meeting, Curry had no trouble with Irving putting up 23 points and 10 assists leading the Warriors to a 112-94 victory. Their next match up, Curry scored 18 and added 6 assists, but LeBron went off for 42 points so the Warriors ended up losing.

If there is one takeaway from this game and any other Steph Curry game this season is that no one can slow him down. He is going to get his points and do his damage on the offensive end, it’s how you combat that yourselves when it’s your chance to score that is the key to beating the Warriors.

LeBron figured it out in their second match up, and Irving, while he won’t be able to shut down Curry, he might be able to at least match him in production. From there it’s all up to the rest of the Cavs to take the reigns and try to get a victory.

I am sure one of the games in this series, Curry will have an off night. Like I said, even Michael Jordan wasn’t perfect. But the fact of the matter is you aren’t going to beat the Warriors by trying to shut down Curry. All you can do is hope to contain him. He is going to get his points and you are going to get yours. It’s all about slowing him down as much as you can and then capitalizing on the offensive end.

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