How the Golden State Warriors are neutralising Boston’s DPOY

Stephen Curry’s explosive scoring has carried the Golden State Warriors to a 2-2 scoreline in the NBA Finals, with his monumental feats appearing even more startling given Boston holds the Defensive Player of the Year in guard Marcus Smart.

The Curry-Smart battle was headlined as the pivotal matchup ahead of the series, with Curry since stamping his dominance through the first four games.

Marcus Smart’s defensive impact on Warriors’ Stephen Curry has been minimal with the latter having found ways to exploit the Celtics’ other defenders. 

Statistically, Smart has actually been very good when guarding Curry this series. The issue for Boston isn’t his defense when on the Warriors’ two-time MVP, but that he’s not the primary defender on Curry enough.

With Smart as the primary defender, Curry is 5-for-15 from the floor with 16 points while also committing five turnovers – numbers well below the 34.3 points he’s averaging on 50% from the field and 49% from three-point range.

But either one of two things is happening – Curry and the Warriors are doing an excellent job on getting other defenders to guard him, or Smart isn’t taking the direct responsibility of clamping Golden State’s superstar on a more consistent basis.

Here are Curry’s numbers against the seven other regular rotational Celtics players –

vs Derrick White – 13-for-25 (33 points, one turnover)

vs Al Horford – 10-for-20 (29 points, one turnover)

vs Jayson Tatum – 7-for-14 (21 points, zero turnovers)

vs Robert Williams III – 7-for-14 (16 points, three turnovers)

vs Grant Williams – 5-for-8 (14 points, two turnovers)

vs Jaylen Brown – 2-for-3 (7 points, one turnover)

vs Payton Pritchard – 2-for-2 (5 points, zero turnovers)

So, when guarded by those seven players, Curry is 46-for-86 (53.5%) in this series for a total of 125 points and just 8 turnovers. Whichever way you look at it, those numbers are quite remarkable.

The way the Celtics guard Curry for the remainder of the series will likely decide the championship. Much has been made of their drop coverage in pick-and-roll situations, but perhaps Boston’s main priority should be getting Smart matched up on Curry as much as they can.

Boston may have the best defense in the league, but the Warriors remain in the hunt because Curry’s taking advantage of every defensive mistake they make.

Will that continue, or can Smart revitalize the individual matchup by taking greater accountability for the one player standing between Boston and the 2022 NBA title?