Has Stephen Curry finally figured out how to defend LeBron James pick-and-rolls?

One of the ways the Cavaliers were able to establish an advantage against the Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals was by involving Stephen Curry in as many screens as possible. Although Curry can be a disruptive defender, it put him in situations he wasn’t comfortable with by forcing him to either navigate his way around multiple screens or switch onto Kyrie Irving and LeBron James in isolation. Curry found himself defending more ball screens than anyone else as a result, which helped wear him down in a series that went down to the wire.

Due to its success, it’s no surprise the Cavaliers have employed the same tactic in the 2017 NBA Finals. However, unlike in the 2016 NBA Finals, it didn’t help them create many scoring opportunities in Game 1. The Warriors seem to have a clearer plan of how they were going to defend James in those situations this year by having Curry “tag” him beyond the 3-point line and then recover to his defender on the roll rather than simply switching. Doing so took away some of the opportunities James feasted on during the 2016 NBA Finals.

When executed well, it looks something like this:

James is a good 3-point shooter, but he isn’t on the same level of Curry, Klay Thompson or Kevin Durant. That doesn’t just apply to his accuracy from beyond the arc — it has just as much to do with the types of 3-pointers he looks for. Whereas Curry wants to pull-up from the perimeter off of the pick-and-roll, for example, James likes to use pick-and-rolls as a way of forcing a switch to give him an opportunity to attack a mismatch in isolation. From there, he can either take them off the dribble with his speed and athleticism or use his strength to overpower them in the post.

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That means Curry can extend himself beyond the 3-point line when James is the ball handler in pick-and-rolls and recover to his defender while Durant drops underneath the screen. If James pulls-up for a 3-pointer like he did in the possession above, Durant has the length to get a hand in his face and make it somewhat difficult. If James puts the ball on the floor like he does in the possession below, Durant has the speed to get back in front and encourage him to pass.

The help defense is important in these situations. JaVale McGee provides some relief for Durant by leaving Tristan Thompson to protect the rim. Klay Thompson then has to switch onto Tristan Thompson briefly to stop him from cutting to the basket before recovering onto J.R. Smith when James makes the pass. The combination prevents James from getting the matchup he wants on Curry while also keeping him out of the paint and staying home on shooters. No other team in the NBA has the speed, length and athleticism to take away all of those options on a single possession.

“Steph took it personal,” Draymond Green told Nate Duncan after Game 1. “His shows were great, his defense was amazing and when he takes it personal like that and he accepts the challenge, we’re a damn good defensive team…Guys were locked in behind the play also. If there was a miscommunication on one show or two, there’s guys there to help and we were all locked in and on a string together.”

Here’s another example of how the Warriors are making it easier for Curry to defend pick-and-rolls. He does the same as above by showing on the screen and making contact with James while Shaun Livingston drops underneath the screen. The contact Curry makes with James is important because it forces him take a slightly wider route to the basket, which gives Livingston the cushion he needs to recover before James gets into the paint. James jumps in the air, tries to make a cross-court pass to Kevin Love on the wing and Durant sniffs it out perfectly to force a turnover.

The help defense is once again in place to stop the layup from James while the weak side defender covers both the cutter and the spot-up shooter. If the Warriors aren’t on a string like Green said, the scheme doesn’t work.

The Cavaliers did create one easy basket in the first half by involving Curry in a pick-and-roll, but the Warriors defended the possession well before some miscommunication paved the way for a dunk. Had Andre Iguodala switched back onto James following the second screen, perhaps the Warriors could’ve avoided the breakdown. Either way, it was the only possession in Game 1 that the Cavaliers scored on when James involved Curry in the pick-and-roll, which is a noticeable and encouraging improvement for the Warriors when compared to the 2016 NBA Finals.

The Warriors also took a page out of Brad Stevens’ book on at least one possession by having Curry switch off of his normal assignment before they could set a screen. Curry started the sequence guarding Smith underneath the basket…

…but Durant wisely switched onto Smith to give them a better chance of containing the pick-and-roll once he made a move towards James at the top of the perimeter.

Although the Cavaliers can exploit the mismatch by giving Kevin Love the ball on the block, Curry did just enough to buy Green the time he needed to pick the pass off in the air.

History says James and the Cavaliers will figure out some sort of counter heading into Game 2 and beyond. James is too good of a playmaker and they have too many shooters on the roster not to. Nonetheless, the mechanics make sense for the Warriors. Curry doesn’t have to switch onto James outright anymore and they have the length and speed with Durant and Andre Iguodala to drop underneath screens, contest jump shots and recover in time to take away the layups and dunks James was getting almost at will in previous rounds. The Warriors are vulnerable to breakdowns if they aren’t all on the same page defensively, but that is rarely a problem for them.

Next: How the length of Durant slowed down LeBron in Game 1

As for what the Cavaliers can do differently, they could decide to involve another screener in Game 2 with the “Spain” pick-and-roll. They’ll have opportunities to attack other defenders in the pick-and-roll as well such as JaVale McGee, Zaza Pachulia, Shaun Livingston or Ian Clark. But doing so not only leaves the Warriors with more opportunities to cover for Curry — more moving pieces might make it easier for Curry to hide — it also means Curry will be involved in less of the direct pick-and-rolls the Cavaliers relied on so heavily in the 2016 NBA Finals.

If that’s the case, the Warriors have one less thing to worry about.