Will the Cavaliers give Isaiah Thomas the Stephen Curry treatment?

The Cavaliers had a clear strategy in the 2016 NBA Finals which involved attacking Stephen Curry frequently on defense. That meant having whichever player Curry was guarding — usually J.R. Smith or Iman Shumpert — set a screen for LeBron James or Kyrie Irving when the ball was in their hands in the hopes of forcing a switch at the point of attack. It’s not so much that Curry isn’t a good defender when he’s locked in, but it forced him to work on both ends of the floor and played a huge role in him being in foul trouble for much of the series. In the end, it was the right strategy to slow him and the Warriors down.

Based on its success, it’ll be interesting to see if the Cavaliers do the same to Isaiah Thomas in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Wizards made it clear in Game 1 of the previous series that they were going to make it a priority to attack Thomas on defense and it almost helped them outlast the Celtics in Game 7 in the TD Garden. Whether it was Bradley Beal, Otto Porter Jr. or John Wall, they didn’t shy away from using Thomas’ physical tools against him by having him chase around screens, defend much stronger players in the post or contest jump shots.

For example, this play is one of many from Game 7 that shows how easily it was for Beal to create against Thomas when he scored a game-high 38 points:

The Cavaliers obviously have different weapons than the Wizards. They don’t have someone as good as Beal scoring off of screens and Irving doesn’t provide the same problems in the post at the point guard position as Wall does, but Irving is one of the best isolation scorers in the NBA and James can get it done in a variety of ways whether in isolation, the pick-and-roll or in the post. Together, it gives them a unique combination that can give a player like Thomas fits. Even if it doesn’t lead directly to a basket for one of them — the Celtics may choose to throw multiple bodies at Irving or James when they look to exploit the mismatch — it can force the defense to bend in ways that creates shots for others.

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Just watch how the Cavaliers put Curry in a tricky situation on this possession by involving him in a screen with James. Curry doesn’t want to switch onto James and Shaun Livingston gets caught up in Irving’s screen, leading to an uncontested dunk.

Now watch how James finds Tristan Thompson perfectly when the Warriors collapse on his drive on this possession. Curry isn’t in position to prevent James from turning the corner in the pick-and-roll and Draymond Green steps up to take away a scoring opportunity, leaving Thompson alone for an alley-oop.

Those are obviously extreme examples, but it’s important to keep in mind why it works so well. Because Curry doesn’t want to switch onto James or Irving, it forces the primary defender to work harder at fighting through screens to stay in front of them. Doing so makes them more vulnerable to breakdowns, which can create open shots for James, Irving or others depending on how the help defense reacts. If Curry does switch, it gives two of the best scorers in the NBA an opportunity to attack a favorable mismatch in whichever way they choose. Either way, the Cavaliers have an advantage.

It’s not just about creating easy shots against Thomas, though. Doing so may force Brad Stevens to take Thomas off the floor for a few minutes at a time — he did so in the third quarter of Game 7 against the Wizards so he could return against Washington’s bench — but the Cavaliers will use it as way of getting him into foul trouble. The Celtics went from scoring 113.6 points per 100 possessions with Thomas on the court during the regular season to 99.0 points per 100 possessions when he was on the bench, basically the difference between the best offensive team and the worst offensive team. Although Thomas averaged only 2.2 fouls per game during the regular season, they might be able to take him out of his rhythm offensively by baiting him into more fouls than he’s used to.

The Cavaliers will probably use other players to attack Thomas on defense when the opportunity presents itself as well. In the following clip, the Cavaliers force Curry to switch onto Channing Frye and then work hard to get the ball to Frye in the post. Having a 7-footer attack a point guard in the post is an obvious advantage, but Frye scored a total of 45 points in the post this season. It made up only 7.8 percent of his offense, and yet his low volume on the block — he didn’t even qualify for Synergy’s stats last season — didn’t prevent the Cavaliers from giving it to him in a must win game in the NBA Finals.

All of this is a testament to how dominant both Curry and Thomas are offensively. Thomas in particular is the reason the Celtics were a top 10 offense this season and he can change any game in a matter of seconds with his ability to make shots in a variety of ways. For that reason, it’s smart for teams like the Wizards and Cavaliers to exploit his only weakness and force him to play both ends of the floor. It might not change much for one or two games, but it’s hard to carry a team on offense and be the focal point of a team’s attack on defense for seven straight games.

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It’s worth noting that there are ways for the Celtics to avoid Thomas getting caught up in those screens over and over again. As ESPN’s Zach Lowe noted, Thomas switched assignments with another Celtic in Game 4 against the Bulls just before Jimmy Butler was able to run a pick-and-roll with a guard. It helped them contain something that troubled them in Game 1 and 2, but the Cavaliers have a lot more weapons on the court at all times than the Bulls. One way or another, James will find ways to prevent Thomas from hiding on defense and it’s on the Celtics to figure out which ways they’re going to take away and which ones they can live with.