The last defiance of Steph Curry and Draymond Green

The difficulty of guarding an action involving Steph Curry and Draymond Green is the sheer unpredictability of how it will manifest. It’s difficult enough to solve the typical Curry-Green pick-and-roll — playing drop will end up in Curry pulling up around the screen for a rhythm three. Playing a more aggressive form of coverage such as a hedge or outright blitz unleashes Green in the short roll with a 4-on-3 numbers advantage, a realm that Green has historically dominated with near-equal efficiency as a Curry pull-up three.

Adding to that difficulty is when Green starts possessions out handling the ball with Curry parking himself in the middle of the paint. Whenever Steve Kerr calls for “Small,” it often entails an inverted pick-and-roll in which Curry steps up to set the screen for Green. The reticence of Curry’s defender to detach himself from the greatest shooter of all time often allows Green to dribble downhill through a wide-open lane.

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Teams have come to expect “Small” action, owing to the fact that the Warriors are so fond of having Curry be the ball screener for Green and bigger ball-handling wings (previously, that role was played by the likes of Jimmy Butler, Andrew Wiggins, and Jonathan Kuminga). Naturally, a scouted action needs to evolve in order to maintain its effectiveness. As such, back on December 14 against the Portland Trail Blazers, Kerr called for “Small” action and the Blazers expected an inverted pick-and-roll possession.

However, the Warriors were expecting the Blazers to expect the ball-screen. In that regard, the Warriors threw a curve ball that caught the Blazers with their tail between their legs:

The rationale behind this action is rather simple: with Green’s defenders often sagging way off of him (with the additional purpose of not letting themselves getting screened by Curry above the free-throw line, which would give Green a runway toward the rim), Green’s defenders will find themselves playing drop coverage unintentionally whenever Curry comes off of Green and pulls up from deep. The irony of the situation is then realized: teams are forced to…

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Publish date : 2026-04-16 09:28:00

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