NBA teams scored 23.5 percent of their points out of the pick-and-roll on average last season. It was the most common play type by a significant margin. This season that number has increased slightly to 24.0 percent, which shouldn’t come as a surprise seeing as the league is currently littered with great point guards. Combine that with power forwards and centers stretching the floor out to the 3-point line, and pick-and-rolls are an easy way for many teams to create high quality looks in the half court.
We’ve already looked at six creative ways teams are adapting the pick-and-roll to make the most used play in the NBA less predictable, so consider this an end-of-season addition. Although a simple pick-and-roll involving Stephen Curry is usually enough to create an easy basket for the Warriors — he ranks in the 71.4 percentile in pick-and-roll scoring this season after ranking in the 97.6 percentile last season — they have another trick up their sleeve to put lurking defenders on an island.
The possession starts with someone other than Curry bringing the ball up the court. In the example we’re focusing on, Shaun Livingston is the one taking over that role. Once Livingston gets close to the 3-point line, Andre Iguodala sets a screen on Curry around the elbow on the strong side so Curry can create some separation between himself and his defender. Curry then pops to the top of the perimeter and faces up to the basket after he receives the ball from Livingston.
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While that’s going on, Matt Barnes spots up in the opposite corner and JaVale McGee acts as though he’s going to set a screen on Barnes by slowly moving towards him. The Warriors are basically set up in Horns with McGee at center and Iguodala at power forward.
The next part is where the magic begins to happen. Livingston clears out to the wing after he gives up the ball and Iguodala keeps his defender glued to him by cutting towards the basket. Iguodala doesn’t just cut and clear out to the opposite side, though. He runs to the basket and relocates to just inside the 3-point line on the wing opposite to Livingston. With Barnes, Livingston and Iguodala hanging around the 3-point line, there’s plenty of room for Curry to attack.
As Iguodala starts his cut towards the wing, McGee does a 180 and sprints towards Curry at the top of the 3-point line to run a pick-and-roll. To this point, it looks like the Warriors are just clearing the paint for Curry and McGee for a standard pick-and-roll.
To prevent Curry from getting open for a 3-pointer, Enes Kanter does what many big men do by hedging the pick-and-roll. It’s not a bad tactic because it means they don’t have to switch a less capable defender onto him. However, with Iguodala, Barnes and Livingston drawing their defenders away from the paint, check out the open lane McGee has to the basket when Kanter commits to helping Westbrook contain Curry:
Curry could attempt a pass to McGee over Russell Westbrook and Kanter, but he gives the ball to Iguodala instead. That puts Iguodala’s defender, Alex Abrines, in a delicate situation of having to choose between leaving his man to help the roller or guarding the ball. Because players are naturally programmed to guard the ball, it leaves McGee totally unguarded.
With a ridiculous amount of ground to cover — both horizontally and vertically — there isn’t anything Roberson can realistically do to break up the play.
As we already noted, the set is designed to put the passer’s defender in a tricky situation because they’re the one acting as the last line of defense. The following video with Draymond Green making the pass to McGee is perhaps the best example. Just keep an eye on how Juancho Hernangomez, who is guarding Green on the baseline, reacts to what is going on.
Hernangomez actually plays it well. Jameer Nelson and Kenneth Faried do a good job of swarming Curry, and Hernangomez puts himself between McGee and Green to take away the option of Curry throwing an alley-oop to the rim. The only problem is he has to recover to Green once Green receives the ball from Curry, which leaves Malik Beasley as their last hope of stopping McGee from getting a wide open dunk. With the way the Warriors effortlessly move the ball, they only need a small gap to create a scoring opportunity.
Here’s one more example, this time with Kevin Durant taking over as the roller. The Warriors don’t set up the play as well as in the videos above, but the idea is the same: Zaza Pachulia clears out to give Curry and Durant the room they need to run a pick-and-roll and Green parks himself on the wing on the opposite side of the court. The Blazers immediately double Curry once Durant has set the screen, Curry passes the ball to Green which pulls Mason Plumlee away from the basket and Durant rolls for an easy two points.
Again, just watch what Plumlee does. He has two feet in the paint when Durant first breaks away from Curry, so he’s in position to slide over and protect the basket before Durant gets airborne. He might not block Durant or prevent him from scoring, but he’s a 7-footer who can make it difficult for Durant by forcing him into a tougher shot or simply fouling him. By swinging the ball to Green first, Plumlee has to step up slightly higher out of respect of his shooting ability.
In the NBA, that’s often the difference between an uncontested and contested shot.
This is also one of many ways of showing how Curry’s value is felt far beyond the numbers we see on a box score. He doesn’t get credit for the Warriors scoring on these plays, but it all begins with his ability to shoot off the dribble. If he wasn’t comfortable pulling-up from deep, teams wouldn’t feel the need to double him as soon as he comes off of a screen, which would make it easier for them to contain McGee on the roll. Curry puts players like Green and Iguodala in position to showcase their playmaking skills, too, by effortlessly creating 4-on-3 situations.
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Even though he hasn’t played to the same standard of the last two seasons, that’s the sort of impact a league MVP has on his teammates.