When the Milwaukee Bucks and Golden State Warriors tip off Tuesday night, old adversaries will face each other with a new twist. Jimmy Butler linking up with the Warriors adds spice to the Bucks after years of serving as a thorn in the foot of Milwaukee. After all, a year and a half ago, the betting odds were on Butler and Lillard winding up as teammates in Miami. Conversely, for years, Curry and Antetokounmpo were speculated together as eventual potential tag team partners down the road.
However, one dynamic has never changed. Steph Curry and Damian Lilllard are in their second decade as the main integers in the NBA’s math 3 > 2 equation. Curry and Lillard are the forefathers of this generation’s intercontinental shooters. In that time, Lillard has typically saved his best for the Warriors. In 37 career games against Golden State, he’s averaged 28.7 points per game against the Warriors, his career-high against any team.
The fireworks tend to go off when they face off. For his career, Lillard is 8-18 against Curry. Among scoring guards of this generation, he’s the Clyde Drexler to Steph’s MJ except their aerial exploits occur 25 or more feet from the rim. Over the last decade, Lillard is only 60 triples behind James Harden in shots made behind the arc. He’s 700 behind Curry.
Mr. 4000 appeared to finally be falling off the pace a few weeks ago. Prior to Jimmy Butler’s debut, Curry’s slippage was conspicuous. His 23 points per game were the fewest he’d averaged in a season in which he played more than 10 games since 2013. Since the acquisition of Butler, Curry’s been firing on all cylinders and the Warriors are 14-3. From Feb. 8 onward, Curry has averaged 28.1 points on 27 percent shooting, 6.1 dimes, and 4.1 rebounds nightly. On Tuesday night, they’ll pen a new chapter in their shared story.
Damien Lillard and Steph Curry's contrasting styles separate their legacies
However, Curry’s off-ball action and Lillard’s lack thereof has been a distinguishing factor in their arcs. Steve Kerr’s tiki-taka-inspired offense embraced the adage that the ball was quicker than the man and unlocked another level in Curry. Golden State once again leads the league in passes made while Lillard’s Portland teams regularly had some of the stickiest offensive sets in the league for over a decade. A year ago, the Bucks shared the fourth fewest passes in the league.
This season, Lillard has the fifth-highest seconds per touch in the league while Curry is outside the top 20. As a movement shooter, he’s always been a step behind Curry. Lillard’s coaches have never truly taken advantage of using movement off-ball to create space for catch-and-shoot triples or running defenders off of screens. Lillard has generated his own buckets off the dribble or in high pick-and-rolls. On pull-up 2s and 3s, they're nearly identical, with a slight edge to Curry.
Off of screen actions this season, Lillard and Curry are even in points produced per possession. However, there’s a wide delta in how often they’re incorporated into the Warriors and Bucks’ offense. Curry has scored an NBA-high 285 points to Lillard's 47.
Bucks passed over head coach who could have revamped Bucks offense
Lillard is too old to be taught new tricks so don’t count on that chasm closing in the future. Especially with Doc Rivers as head coach. He’s old school. Ironically, it was Steve Kerr's assistant Kenny Atkinson whom the Bucks turned down for their starting job on two separate occasions.
Atkinson ramping up their movement shooting, and off-ball movement added kinetic energy to the Cavaliers' offense. Atkinson’s revamp resulted in a Cleveland offense that soared from 115.2 points per 100 possessions, good for 18th in the league in 2024, to 122.3 points, second-best in league history.
We’ll never know whether Atkinson’s movement-based offense would have boosted Milwaukee or Lillard though. Those differences in style of play are what make the chiaroscuro in Lillard and Curry’s differences pop. Late Tuesday evening, Steve Kerr announced that Curry would rest for the second half of Golden State's back-to-back robbing us of a Curry-Lillard matchup. Milwaukee desperately needs this win to maintain their standing in the East, but with Curry out, Lillard's green light will be glaring.