After the Golden State Warriors’ 117-113 win over the Sacramento Kings, Warriors swingman Juan Toscano-Anderson summed up what it would be like for other teams in the Western Conference to face Stephen Curry in the playoffs.
“Let’s call a spade a spade: Steph Curry is that guy,” Toscano-Anderson said. “I wouldn’t want to run into him. I would hate to play against him. He’s a tough matchup. If I was another team, I wouldn’t want to run into Steph Curry and the Warriors [in the playoffs].”
As someone who probably spends the bulk of his time in practice guarding Curry, Toscano-Anderson has some first-hand experience to back that assertion up. But look no further than Curry’s on-court production in the month of April as proof that a Curry-led Warriors team that finds a way to sneak into the playoffs could spell trouble for any higher seed squad which rests on its laurels.
Curry’s April will probably go down as one of the best individual months in the history of the NBA: 38.1 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 4.5 assists, on 53/47/90 shooting splits and 72% true shooting. His 47% clip on threes has come on nearly 14 attempts per game – a mind-boggling combination of high volume and high efficiency.
His 85 made threes in April is also the record for the most threes made in a single month, surpassing James Harden’s 82 threes in November 2019.
Curry has been an absolute spitfire from long range. He is unquestionably the undisputed greatest shooter this league has seen – past, present, and most probably in the future, as well. That was true even before Curry’s recent hot streak – all it has done so far is to strengthen a claim that he has already solidified with an iron grip.
When Curry’s making shots like these, there is pretty much nothing anyone can do to stop him:
“It seems like I’ve run out of ways to describe Steph’s play,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said after the game. “I’m just going to stop trying and I’ll ask you to go back – I don’t know – 3 or 4 games ago. Look at my comments then and use those tonight again.”
When Curry’s head coach – who has seen literally everything that Curry has done over the past 7 years – has run out of superlatives to describe his performances, it speaks volumes to the consistent level of play that Curry has stayed at.
Curry scored 37 points on 11-of-21 shooting from the field and 7-of-14 on threes against the Kings, and like a typical Curry show, he did it with his usual on-ball wizardry: pull-up threes, catch-and-shoot jumpers, and using his handles to beat his man off the dribble and get to the rim for the finish.
But Curry’s “gravity” – the operative word in a Curry ecosystem of motion offense and passing – also played a huge part in the Warriors’ win down the stretch.
Take this possession, for example, during which Curry doesn’t even touch the ball:
The mere threat of a handoff to Curry makes the defense think twice. Draymond Green deserves the credit for the execution – he’s probably the best at selling those handoffs – but it all started with the innate fear the Kings defense had of Curry getting the ball and pulling up for a three.
The defense is forced into rotation, and the read that Green makes is simple but sublime: kick out to Andrew Wiggins in the corner, swing to Mychal Mulder, and a three-point shot is generated.
Another Curry-generated shot, with Mulder as the beneficiary:
On one of the Warriors’ trademark sets – the low-post split action – Mulder screens for Curry, whose movement attracts defensive attention, as expected. Buddy Hield takes his eyes off of Mulder for a second, worried about Curry popping out. But that is all the time Mulder needs to catch and release the shot.
It’s easy to miss such a detail and attribute it purely to Mulder, but Curry generates a plethora of open looks for his teammates based on his off-ball movement and presence alone. He is still pretty much a perpetual motion-machine – so much so that teams’ defensive gameplans are entirely dedicated to stopping Curry at all costs.
That is exactly why Curry – who can easily score with the ball in his hands and knows it – has been willing to be an off-ball decoy. He wants defenses to be afraid of him. He wants to use his on-court “clout,” so to speak, to find open shots for the rest of his teammates.
It all stems from his core personality, that of unselfishness and leading by example, that makes Curry not only a unique superstar, but also a unique leader.
“The way he’s been leading us, it’s been incredible to watch,” Green said of Curry. “His scoring is just a byproduct of that leadership. The demeanor that he takes onto the floor each and every night to give guys to follow, the example he’s setting – his scoring is just a byproduct of that.”
In terms of Curry’s competitive nature inspiring him to be competitive himself, Green had a definitive answer.
“If [Curry being competitive] doesn’t [inspire you to be competitive as well], you should probably hang them up, because you’re probably a little soft,” Green said. “It probably doesn’t matter enough to you, and in order to win in this league, it has to matter. When you got a guy playing like that, you owe it to him to give everything that you got in order to help win these basketball games.”
Of all the adjectives to describe Green, “soft” is by no means one of them. He is a competitor through and through, the perfect complement to Curry in terms of competitive edge – although Green is much more vocal and outwardly demonstrative than his partner-in-crime.
Green filled up the stat sheet against the Kings, as well, although in his own unique way: 8 points, 14 rebounds, and 13 assists.
Green is currently 4th in the assists leaderboard (8.8 per game) – the most among big men in the league, including over Nikola Jokic (8.7). Green’s passing this season has been an absolute joy to watch, and it has come in many forms.
Perhaps Green’s greatest value as a passer is his ability to make decisions on the short roll, with Curry being doubled off the screen:
Green is a master at exploiting a 4-on-3 numbers advantage created from Curry being doubled, as shown above. It’s a classic sequence that the Warriors have consistently executed to near perfection – Green making a split-second decision, the weak-side corner man cutting toward the dunker spot, and Green, with utmost precision, finding the target.
After the game, Green gave an in-depth answer in terms of making quick decisions on the short roll.
“I think it’s all about watching the next man,” Green said. “It’s all about reading the next guy… if I’m getting the ball out of a pick-and-roll in the pocket, then I’m usually reading the bottom man in the corner. If the bottom man steps in and the corner man steps in, I have the lob. If the corner man doesn’t step in, I have the kick-out.”
Curry and Green, as expected, have been the two-headed monster behind this current Warriors run that started with a win over the Milwaukee Bucks in early April. During the past 11 games, the Warriors are 8-3, with an offensive rating of 115.8 (7th in such a span), a defensive rating of 106.5 (2nd in such a span), and have been outscoring opponents by 9.3 points per 100 possessions – the best point differential over that 11-game period.
While Curry and Green have been doing a lot of heavy lifting, credit must also be distributed among their supporting cast. Andrew Wiggins has been exceptional with his two-way play. Kelly Oubre Jr has been relegated to the bench, but has found a role as a second-unit bedrock, providing value on defense and knocking down timely shots. Kevon Looney has been a stable presence in the center position. Jordan Poole is proving to be a steady source of offense when Curry is on the bench.
But perhaps the most noteworthy bench contributor has been Toscano-Anderson, whose Swiss-Army-knife skill set has allowed him to flourish in Kerr’s system of high-IQ basketball.
His quick-decision making – not unlike Green’s – has given the Warriors another capable playmaker on the floor. Toscano-Anderson has that natural feel for the flow of a game. He knows when to leverage the attention others are giving to his teammates for his own benefit:
But he also has the vision and the passing chops to look for his teammates on cuts:
The similarity to Green in terms of passing and decision making might be rooted from the fact that Green has taken Toscano-Anderson under his wing. With the way Toscano-Anderson has been making reads – the fake handoffs, the laser-precision passes, and his natural fit with the motion offense – Toscano-Anderson is looking like the Warriors’ glue-guy of the future.
“I actually walked into the locker room and I told [Green] that it’s a lot of fun playing with you guys,” Toscano-Anderson said. “I’m having the time of my life, especially learning from him. Dray’s pretty much taken me under his wing and just kind of teaching me the ropes, how to be a professional in the NBA. He always has my back on the floor.”
“I’d run through a wall for these guys.”
Toscano-Anderson has proven that statement to be true – figuratively and literally.
The Warriors are now in position to target those who are above them in the standings. Their 31-30 record currently places them 10th in the West, just barely qualifying for the play-in tournament. The San Antonio Spurs sit above them at 9th, and the Memphis Grizzlies – at 8th – are only a game ahead. The slumping Portland Trail Blazers are 1.5 games ahead at 7th, while the Dallas Mavericks are 3 games ahead and are just outside the play-in bracket at 6th.
The Warriors are facing the Mavericks in a big showdown between two teams on opposite ends of the play-in spectrum. Three games is a huge hurdle for the Warriors to overcome with 11 games remaining, especially against a team led by a superstar in Luka Doncic and are coming off a win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
That is why it’s important for them to keep their foot on the gas pedal, to eke out a victory against the Mavericks. It could go a long way toward securing an outright playoff berth, which is the best-case scenario. A more realistic good outcome would be getting into that higher 7th/8th seed bracket, securing them two chances at a playoff berth.
The worst case? A 10th or 9th seed finish, giving them virtually no room for error.
The name of the game at this point is to get into the playoffs, to get Stephen Curry and Draymond Green – two proven titans of playoff basketball – a chance to wreak havoc upon unsuspecting higher seeds.
If that scenario should come to fruition, then who knows? All it takes is a little belief – or “We Believe,” rather – for a miracle to happen. – Rappler.com
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