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But also, Williams is just more of a paint patroller. Then Payton Pritchard and Derrick White both stayed with Jordan Poole as Curry popped all alone behind the arc.īeing that Golden State lacks individual playmakers outside of Curry (this is what makes Jordan Poole, who has to play better in Game 2, so vital), every second that ticks off the shot clock put the Celtics further in control of the possession as their size and length clamp down.Īgain, Horford has a better feel for the drop than Williams, who is hesitant to extend too far beyond the 3-point line perhaps his ailing knee isn't yet 100 percent and he doesn't trust himself quite as much to move in space. First, Jayson Tatum inexplicably drifted away from defending Curry to stay with Draymond Green. That's what the Celtics did to open Game 1, completely losing track of Curry on two separate possessions as though he was some kind of fourth option. It's just to say that if you play disciplined, physical defense and track him with multiple switching defenders everywhere he moves, these days, you seem to have at least a marginally better chance of coming out alive.īut if you're going to give the guy wide-open looks? Forget about it. That's not to say Curry still can't torch you on a given night. These flurries that used to be routine are now fewer and farther between. I haven't combed the data, but having watched pretty much every minute of Curry's season, and career, I can virtually assure you that, excluding the All-Star game, he didn't splash anything close to six straight 3-pointers at any point in what was probably the worst shooting season of his life. For the first 12 minutes of these 2022 NBA Finals, Stephen Curry looked like his old video-game self as he poured in six consecutive 3-pointers in a historic first quarter.