Steph Curry Is Locked In
Beyond the dagger threes, Steph is doing the little things in the clutch.
Writing after the Golden State Warriors’ road win over the Boston Celtics, Anthony Slater detailed how Warriors coach Steve Kerr lit into Steph Curry after a careless turnover during the game. From Slater’s article1:
“This is a theme with our team,” Kerr said. “We can’t be the same team we were five or six years ago and give away five or six possessions in the name of creating chaos.”
When the Warriors had Kevin Durant — when their stars were in their primes — they could turn it over 20 times and still beat an opponent by 20 points. They had a margin for error that no longer exists, even if the hard-to-eliminate habits still do.
“Everyone else is playing fast and shooting 3s, too, these days,” Kerr said. “Boston shot 20 more 3s than we did in the second half. So it’s tough to win if you are giving away possessions. I’ve been all over Steph and Draymond. It’s incumbent upon them because they are our leaders and they’re the guys who handle the ball most. They gotta cut back on their bad decisions like that.”
Ten games into the 2024-25 NBA season, the Warriors rank 12th in the league in turnover percentage per Cleaning the Glass. 14% of the team’s possessions end in a turnover. If that number sticks, it would be by far the best mark of Coach Steve Kerr’s tenure. They were 29th in the league during the 2022 championship season, turning the ball over on 15.2% of their possessions. It has generally been accepted as the cost of playing Kerr’s pass-happy style, with the lost possessions made up for by the benefits of keeping the ball moving.
The Warriors’ mindfulness this season has not come at the expense of their identity; they still lead the league in passes per game per NBA Advanced Stats. They’re playing a more careful version of Kerr ball. Couple that with the fact that the Warriors are forcing turnovers on nearly 16% of opponent possessions (8th best in the league) and Golden State is is winning the possession battle on the margins.
Going from the team to the individual, neither Draymond Green nor Steph Curry has noticeably cut down on turnovers; Steph is still turning it over on 17% of his possessions. However, the emphasis on smart decision-making that Coach Kerr talks about does not show up just in turnover numbers. It is visible in a lot of little decisions that often go unnoticed amidst the pyrotechnics of a dagger three pointer, or a thunderous alley oop.
To wit, let’s go to crunch time in the Warriors’ road victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday. Steph sealed the game with a couple of three pointers, but I want to focus on the other things he did to shut the door on the Thunder. With just over four minutes left, the Thunder had cut the Warriors’ 30 point lead to just six, and a baying Thunder crowd could sense a massive comeback victory on the cards. A Steph turnover gave Oklahoma City the opportunity to make it a one possession game. Watch Steph on this Thunder possession: He holds off Cason Wallace, before handing him off to Cason Wallace and boxing out Alex Caruso when Draymond Green (Caruso’s defender) goes to double Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. These critical help-the-helper plays do not register in the box score (Kuminga gets credited with the rebound):
Again, on the next Thunder possession, Draymond goes to help De’Anthony Melton deal with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Helping the helper on the back line is Steph Curry, boxing out Draymond’s man (Lu Dort this time), while pointing Andrew Wiggins to zone up between Alex Caruso in the corner and Jalen Williams on the wing:
And one more for good measure, perhaps the play that truly iced the game before Steph nailed his game-sealing three and busted out the night-night. After the Thunder drew blanks on two straight Shai isolations, they have Cason Wallace ghost a screen and roll into what looks like a lay-up. Only, Steph is alive to the danger and tags Wallace early, blocking the first shot attempt and bothering the second one enough to force a miss:
Over the years, Steph has developed a somewhat-unjustified reputation as a subpar defender. The reality is that in lineups with Draymond, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Andre Iguodala/Shaun Livingston, Steph was the weakest defender by virtue of the strength of the others. His otherworldly shooting ability has caused some fans to overlook his basketball intelligence; that intelligence was on full display in his help defense against the Thunder. He and the Warriors are nailing the details early in the season.
Two More for Good Measure
I could post the threes, but instead, I want to highlight two delightful little details on the offensive end. Steph Curry is one of the greatest guard screeners around and on a critical crunch time play, his screening ability and his gravity were on full display. Again, Steph doesn’t show up in the box score for this (and won’t even get a screen assist), but this alley oop doesn’t happen without him:
When Steph lays the wood on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Cason Wallace is already leaning left in case Steph pops out to the top of the arc. With one eye on that, and anticipating that Wallace’s attention to Steph may give Draymond the space to turn the corner, Alex Caruso helps way off of Alex Caruso to contain a possible Draymond drive. That opens up the pass for Draymond.
Coach Kerr spent much of the fourth quarter pleading with the officials to call a push off on Shai on offense (spoiler: they did not.) Meanwhile, Lu Dort was pulling his best Matthew Dellavedova and manhandling Steph on the defensive end. But the Chef isn’t beyond fighting fire with fire. Watch the shove off to Dort’s neck here before Steph comes off the Wiggins screen:
Again, details. Even if some of them come from the dark side.
NB: Anthony Slater is the type of beat writer that makes a subscription to The Athletic worth it, for readers who are on the fence about whether to pay for their coverage.