Why the Los Angeles Lakers are not stopping Stephen Curry:
The Los Angeles Lakers have had the league’s best defense for most of this season. That’s not going to matter if the other team’s best player just doesn’t miss shots.
Golden State’s last opponent, the Memphis Grizzlies, double-teamed Stephen Curry even when he didn’t have the ball – and it still wasn’t enough!
Don’t believe me? Check out just how hard and how connected Memphis defends on all these possessions yet Chef Curry cooks them like he’s in Memphis fixing them Corky’s barbecue chicken.
46 PTS | 7 REB | 9 AST
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) May 16, 2021
Unreal performance from @StephenCurry30 pic.twitter.com/EXNEOVFPzf
Stopping Curry is impossible; slowing him down is iffy at best.
The key is to make him take as many shots as possible to get to 40 points. Curry has the fourth-highest usage rate – only Bradley Beal, Luka Doncic, and Joel Embiid end possessions with the ball in their hands more often.
So Curry’s going to take a bunch of shots. It’s just when and where those shots are taken that’s going to be key.
What can the Los Angeles Lakers do to make Stephen Curry as inefficient as possible:
Obviously, the Lakers should double-team Curry every single time. Even so, he is still going to make several shots that defy physics.
The Lakers should force Curry into so many contested and/or rushed shots that nobody else on Golden State can get into any kind of offensive rhythm.
It sounds contradictory: the opposing team’s best shooter shouldn’t be taking all the shots, but the priority for the Lakers defense should be to not let the other four players on the court besides Curry get into any kind of offensive rhythm.
It also sounds idealistic: one guy can’t beat an elite NBA team by himself in the playoffs, but he can come uncomfortably close. Michael Jordan scored 63 points but it was still not enough to beat the Boston Celtics back in 1986.
The final score? Boston won 135-131.
Even if Curry scores 70, Golden State still won’t outscore the Lakers if nobody else on the team scores more than 10 points.
Besides, who are the other guys to the Lakers? Are Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green scoring more than 20 points in this game?
Forget the narrative about the Lakers trying to stop Stephen Curry. Golden State can’t stop either LeBron James or Anthony Davis.
Why is the sports media not focused on LeBron and AD vs Golden State’s defense?