Throughout the NBA Finals, Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet's primary defensive assignment has been Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry. However, he found himself with a much easier assignment before Game 5 when a kid took him on one on one on the Raptors homecourt:
BLOCK! 🖐@FredVanVleet playing NBA-level defence on a kid 😂 #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/zdr5WdrZMu
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 9, 2019
VanVleet showed no mercy to the poor kid, swatting his shot away with ease. It doesn't seem like VanVleet is in any mood to go easy on defense, no matter who he is guarding.
The Wichita State product deserves praise for his hounding defense all series on Curry. While Curry did have an excellent Game 3, he has been held to reasonable numbers in Games 1,3, and 4.
Over those games, Curry has been held to nine of 28 from beyond the arc, a subpar 32 percent. VanVleet has been chasing him from end to end of the court, barely giving the sharpshooter space to breath. Due to this, Curry's good looks have been very limited.
VanVleet has clearly left it all on the floor through four games. He even lost a tooth in Game 4 after taking a shot to the face. Thankfully, the injury will not keep him sidelined, and he will come off the bench yet again to provide some of the determined defense that has helped the Raptors take a 3-1 series lead.
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