The Warriors’ superstar is killing the Rockets – again.
The Golden State Warriors outscored the Houston Rockets by 22 points in the 27 minutes Chris Paul played. On the other hand, the Warriors were outscored by two points in the 31 minutes Steph Curry played.
While it’s a positive that the Point God – especially in the minutes Curry sat – was able to lead a second unit that was once at a loss without its superstar on the court, the plus-minus numbers above say so nothing about it whole story. Superstars are a valuable commodity in the NBA for good reason: teams need someone to finish games and take over when they need them.
Curry is still the most important man on this team and will remain so as long as he can dribble the ball and put it in the basket at an elite level. In a game where the Warriors once led by as many as 16 points, they suddenly found themselves in a mud fight against a young but hungry Rockets team that wasn’t making things easy for them – a situation ripe for superstar talent .
Curry had a difficult shooting night — 2 of 9 from the field, 1 of 8 from three-point range — before the Warriors prepared to execute a baseline out-of-bounds (BLOB) set they had executed strong during the early season, simply called “Rub”.
“Rub” is so called because it is a “rub” screen that allows the inbounder to cut under the basket. But it’s also important to note who sets the rub screen.
As you may have guessed, in lineups where Curry is on the court, he is the one designated as the rub screener, following the decades-old Warriors principle that the best and most dangerous shooter on the court is a screener to generate an advantage.
The hand signal Steve Kerr uses for “Rub” is simple: He rubs his chest.
To allow Curry to be the screen protector underneath, the Warriors adjusted their formation so that he ran toward the baseline to create the screen. Draymond Green starts halfway between the elbow and the baseline while Kevon Looney is stationed at short corner.
“Rub” is banking on the hope that Curry’s defender won’t shut him down. By setting up the screen, Curry leaves the inbounder’s man stuck to it – and without a switch, the inbounder is left open under the rim.
The ball is returned to the decision maker – in this case Green – and the rub screen is set:
If the pass to the inbounder does not occur – a clean transition occurs or the inbounder’s defender remains in position – the next option is activated:
Looney sets the exit screen for Curry. Note that Curry’s man – Jae’Sean Tate – loses Curry as he disappears from the screen. It’s simply a product of misunderstanding and confusion in the reporting: Jalen Green, Wiggins’ husband, thinks he should stick to the point; Tate, on the other hand, avoids Curry as if he expects him and Green to swap duties.
Curry takes advantage of the confusion by leaving the home screen and Alperen Şengün is unable to switch to Curry:
In the final 5:15 of the game, Curry went 4 of 7 from the field, including the shot above. All four of those marks were on threes.
This “get” move with Green is a classic connection between teammates who have an almost telepathic connection with each other. Şengün pushes toward Curry, but in an attempt to return to his task, Curry initiates “Get” (the pass to Green, followed by immediately pursuing his pass to get it back) to punish the recovery:
When Şengün defends himself again, Curry doesn’t even let him catch up and forces the direct switch. A slow big man against the greatest pull-up shooter in history – you can probably imagine how this duel ended:
And about that absolutely dirty move by Curry against Dillon Brooks, which was on a string controlled by a master puppeteer:
The fire started by “Rub” turned Curry into the Human Torch, which burned the rockets again. He finished the game with 24 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Even though he only shot 37.5% from the field on 6-of-16 shooting, he still scored efficiently, as evidenced by his true shooting percentage of 63.4. All but two of his shot attempts came from threes; all six of his attempts were threes, out of 14 attempts; and he was a perfect 6 of 6 at the free throw line.
Perhaps the most satisfying part of the whole thing for Kerr and the coaching staff: Curry did it all in just 31 minutes.
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