This sequence from Game 3 of the NBA Finals shows how unique Stephen Curry is
We’ve never seen a player quite like Stephen Curry before. Not only is he one of the best point guards currently in the NBA, his versatility as a 3-point shooter means the Warriors can use him as a shooting guard depending on the situation. Curry has only logged 5.0 percent of his career minutes at shooting guard, according to Basketball-Reference, but 11.2 percent of his offense came from spot-ups during the regular season and he ranked in the 97.2 percentile with 1.33 points per possession. He is equally dominant coming off of screens, where he scored 14.8 percent of his points and ranked in the 90.5 percentile with 1.18 points per possession.
Therefore, even though it’s rare to see Curry actually play the role of a shooting guard, his frequency, efficiency and volume as an off-ball scorer is similar to many traditional shooting guards such as CJ McCollum, Bradley Beal and Kyle Korver. It basically makes him the scariest full-time point guard in the NBA who also has the ability to moonlight as the deadliest shooting guard.
There are many examples of how the Warriors maximize the dual threat of Curry’s shooting, but there was one sequence in Game 3 of the 2017 NBA Finals that shows how difficult he is to guard in those scenarios. The play the Warriors ran for him was simple: Curry set a down screen on Livingston’s defender and then Livingston set the same screen on Curry’s defender for him to pop out to the 3-point line. With Draymond Green and Patrick McCaw on the other side of the court, it drew the weak side defenders away from the paint, which put a tremendous amount of pressure on the two Cavaliers defenders guarding Curry and Livingston to fight through screens.
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Curry worked himself free for a shot the play is designed for when they ran it for the first time — he popped to the wing and faded slightly towards the baseline to create seperation between himself and Shumpert. Jefferson left Livingston to help out, but Curry has no problems making shots against tight defense. Although he made only 29.6 percent of his 3-point attempts within four feet of a defender during the regular season, he made 39.8 percent of those same opportunities last season. He has also bumped his success rate against tight coverage up to 37.5 percent in these playoffs.
Curry is basically playing the role of Klay Thompson on that possession. Rather than bringing the ball up the court like a normal point guard, he left that up to Andre Iguodala while he ran his defender off of a screen. It’s not a role you’d expect to see many point guards take even in today’s NBA where positions are starting to dissolve.
Due to its success, it’s no surprise the Warriors ran the same play on the next possession down the court. This time, however, Curry didn’t pop to the 3-point line for a jump shot. He instead used his gravity as a screener to create an opening for Livingston to cut backdoor for a dunk. Because Shumpert didn’t want to risk leaving Curry for a second, there’s absolutely nothing the Cavaliers could do when Jefferson got caught up in Curry’s screen.
Curry is terrifying when he’s used as a screener because he’s such a good shooter. His primary defender knows better than to leave him, which paves the way for him to shake free for a jump shot if they can’t get around the screen or help someone else score if he draws the secondary defender. It’s why the Warriors can run the exact same play on back-to-back possessions in the NBA Finals and get one of two extremes — an uncontested layup or a quality look at a 3-pointer — with two excellent finishers involved.
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The threat, of course, only becomes greater when Curry shares the court with Kevin Durant, Thompson, Green and another shooter like Ian Clark. If the defense makes one false move, the Warriors will get a layup from either two feet or 24 feet. Each of them play a big role in making those options available, but it’s Curry’s ability to function as a point guard and shooting guard that unlocks a lot of their potential.