5 Takeaways from Golden State Warriors Winning in Houston

Steph Curry is Unguardable

Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

While I’m sure many of the fans (and players) that are reading this have known this as a fact for quite sometime, it’s the level of comfort Curry has demonstrated in traffic that has led me to believe wholeheartedly that Curry is one of the hardest players to guard in the NBA.

Last night, Rockets head coach Kevin McHale showed that he has yet to read the updated scouting report on Curry as the Rockets seemingly tried to double team Curry early in the shot clock to force the ball out of his hands. Each and every single time the trap came over, Curry showed a good level of patience when operating within those tight spaces, keeping his composure and finding the right teammate to which he could pass to out of the double.

Fundamentally, a high trap would create four-on-three situations that the Warriors could have smartly used to attack and get easy buckets in the paint, but the thing with Curry is he’s so great at moving without the ball and shooting off the catch. Why teams would rather have the ball out of Curry’s hands initially just so that the ball could be moved around the floor then passed back to Curry for a wide open spot-up three-pointer is beyond me.

Just look at how well Curry moves without the ball:

Curry has continued to improve his movement off the ball the past couple seasons, showing more versatility and craftiness in his ability to create space. In the video above, credit for the play must be given to Steve Kerr, whose use of guards for screens has done nothing but wonders for the Warriors offensively.

And then there’s this:

Not only is he quick with his handle, but the mental quickness Curry has continued to display the past couple years is absolutely extraordinary. Seeing him dribble through three, four defenders at a time is something that fans of opposing teams may not be used to, but DubNation sees this almost every single game now. It’s difficult to think of ways Curry can continue improving, but he’s just become so efficient with his style of play and deliberate with his movements that, to me, the most impressive thing about Curry’s growth the past few years has been his overall decision-making.

He may not have the natural athleticism of Russell Westbrook, but his creativity, mental quickness, and natural work ethic has turned him into a player capable of sending opposing guards to the hospital after trying their hand at guarding him.

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