Michael Jordan?s Arch-Nemesis From NBA Finals 1996 Gives Marcus Smart?s Celtics the Antidote to Stephen Curry

Stephen Curry and the Warriors won game-2 of the Finals and the series is now tied at 1 game a piece. The Warriors dominated in game 2 to take the game by 19 points. While this win was a must for the Warriors as they had to protect the home court, they now fly to Boston for games 3 and 4. The Dubs’ defense was much better compared to game 1. Behind game 2 win were Steph’s 29-point performance and Jordan Poole’s threes.

After two huge games for Steph, it is interesting to know how one of the all-time best defenders of the league would guard Curry. Gary Payton explained just that.

Payton explained how he would’ve guarded Stephen Curry

In game-1, Steph had 21 points in the first half. But after a while, Smart started denying Curry. Payton explained that when Steph was struggling to get free, his teammates would get away from him, avoiding a turnover. Coming from one of the all-time greats, pressuring Steph on defense indeed led to a poor second half from him.

But it’s not always Smart who guards Curry. In today’s game, defenders tend to switch a lot. This would ultimately have a big man guarding a great offensive player or a great shooter.

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Payton explained what switching defenders result in. “Nobody steps out and hedge, all they do is just say, ‘Okay, Switch!’ and then the big man is on him. He’s gonna get killed. He’s gonna get killed, he can’t guard him, and then what you do, you get a mismatch and then what he do, he breaks it down by penetrating and then all the team sucks in and what do y’all do nowadays in this era, shoot number threes. And it’s all open, kick, kick, kick, open.”

Gary knows today’s game pretty well

This was an interesting analysis by Payton, for it’s pretty accurate. A mismatch is dangerous in the post, but it’s much more dangerous from the outside in today’s game. Teams are attempting more threes than ever, and when the greatest shooter of all time gets a mismatch, it’s a treat for him.

Curry is one of the greatest scorers in the game and to guard such players, teams can’t afford a mismatch. The concept of hedge seems reliable, but with the crafty guards of today’s game and hand-checking rule, it probably won’t work. This still was an insightful analysis from Payton.

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It will be interesting to see if Smart plays the same defense on Steph the whole game in game 3. Teams that win game 3, go on to win the series 82% of the time. Do you think the Celtics will take game 3? Let us know in the comments.