How does Stephen Curry continue to get wide open 3-pointers?

Stephen Curry would still likely be remembered as the greatest shooter in NBA history if he retired today. He already has four of the five greatest 3-point shooting seasons of all-time and he’s currently ranked No. 9 in career 3-pointers made. There are four active players ahead of him on that list — Vince Carter, Jamal Crawford, Kyle Korver and Jason Terry — but none of them are a threat to upstage Ray Allen like Curry is. Whereas they are each at least 36-years-old, Curry is on track to surpass Allen in 3-pointers made at some point in the 2020-21 season at the age of 32.

It’s therefore hard to believe that wide open 3-pointers have represented almost a quarter of Curry’s total shot attempts this season. According to NBA.com, he hasn’t had a defender within six feet of him for 72 of the 179 3-pointers he’s taken thus far. The only players who have attempted more wide open 3s are Nikola Vucevic, Wesley Matthews, Ryan Anderson, Marc Gasol, DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Gordon, a group of three centers and three specialists. Curry has been solid in those situations, too, making 41.7 percent of his wide open 3-point opportunities.

There are a few reasons why defenses can’t avoid giving up 3.8 wide open 3-pointers per game to Curry, the first being his willingness to move off ball. Unlike James Harden, LeBron James and Damian Lillard, each of whom create most of their 3-pointers themselves, only 41.8 percent of Curry’s made 3s this season have been unassisted. It’s a byproduct of him spending more time without the ball in his hands, as his scoring frequency off of screens has increased from 14.8 percent last season to 19.2 percent this season. The only player currently generating more points per game off of screens than Curry (5.1) is his backcourt teammate Klay Thompson (5.8).

Read More: Centers are shooting 3s at a rate we’ve never seen before

Putting Curry in those positions is beneficial for both him and the Warriors. His ability to get his shot off quickly forces teams to stick to him like glue when he doesn’t have the ball in his hands, which can lead to easy baskets for himself and his teammates — even if it’s an elite scorer like Kevin Durant — when he’s used as a screener.

For example, Kyle Lowry decides to switch onto Draymond Green on this possession, leaving Pascal Siakam to switch onto Curry. Siakam then decides to go over Zaza Pachulia’s screen rather than under, and Curry fades to the corner for a wide open 3.

Lowry would’ve obviously done a better job than Siakam of keeping up with Curry, but Curry’s screen forced him to make a quick and costly decision. Had he not switched, Green would’ve likely been on the receiving end of an uncontested layup.

The addition of Durant in particular helps Curry because it gives the Warriors another player who can create his own offense. As dominant as an offensive player as Thompson is, he isn’t one to create for others with great frequency. Green is even more limited as an offensive weapon due to his inconsistency as an outside shooter and his reliance on his teammates to create almost 80.0 percent of his baskets.

In Durant, the Warriors have someone who can make Curry-like shots off the dribble and setup his teammates when defenses try to take the ball out of his hands, leading to these sorts of possessions for Curry:

Green creates similar opportunities for Curry as a passer, not as a scorer. Green is unique in that he’s one of the few big men who can grab a rebound and push the ball himself in transition. Knowing Green will make the right decision, it gives Curry the freedom to sprint to the the 3-point line following a missed shot or turnover.

Having someone other than the point guard attack in transition puts a lot of pressure on the defense to avoid crossmatches. If Green’s defender isn’t able to keep up with him — something that happens often when they go for an offensive rebound and lose the battle — it forces another defender to pick him up when he reaches the 3-point line. Someone else then has to pick up Curry, Durant and Thompson, paving the way for one of them to pick apart a mismatch in isolation or semi-transition.

It helps that Curry has the green light to shoot just about any shot he wants. It’s why teams have to pick him up as soon as he crosses half court, because he’s comfortable pulling-up from anywhere. Only two players are ahead of him in pull-up 3-point attempts and 3-point attempts from at least 25 feet away from the basket this season. The combination gives him the tools to shoot whenever he has an opening.

Just watch how quickly Curry gets off his shot against the Wizards. As soon as Patrick McCaw secures the defensive rebound following JaVale McGee’s block, he looks behind him to see where John Wall is. When he notices Wall isn’t sprinting back on defense, Curry makes him pay by turning on the jets and getting to his sweet spot.

Where defending Curry gets even more complicated is he can string both of those together. Most players can either spot-up from deep or pull-up off the dribble, but Curry will combine them to create as much seperation as possible between himself and his defender. One of his favorite ways to do so is by dipping his right shoulder into his defender to setup a step back when he has the ball in his left hand.

It’s how he loses Grizzlies rookie Dillon Brooks here:

Volume is another factor in how Curry continues to get so many wide open 3-pointers. He doesn’t shoot as often as he once did — Curry has gone from 20.2 field goal attempts per game in 2015-16 to 17.4 field goal attempts per game this season — but he’s still near the top of the league with 9.5 3-point attempts per game. Based on how many 3-pointers he shoots and the variety of ways in which he can get them off, it makes sense that teams would struggle to contest every attempt because there isn’t simply one answer to slowing him down.

Next: Statistical impacts of moving up positions

Curry is basically the Kawhi Leonard of 3-pointers. Because he doesn’t have one weakness as a 3-point shooter, he’s prepared to take any open shot, whether it’s a few feet behind the line, in the form of a catch-and-shoot or off the dribble. Teams like the Cavaliers have had success in the past by shadowing Curry’s every step, but that game plan became much less effective as soon as Durant walked through the door, as we witnessed in the 2017 NBA Finals.