The Golden State Warriors enter the NBA Finals as the favorites to win, at least according to the FanDuel betting lines. But the narrative surrounding the Boston Celtics being a matchup nightmare for the Dubs is slowly gaining traction.
There's the catch-all figure that points to the Celtics matching up against Golden State the best throughout the entire run of the Stephen Curry title era. Boston is the only team that's outperformed them on the court since 2014.
The Celtics are the only team in the NBA to have a winning record against the Warriors since 2014. They are 9-7 against GSW in that time span.
— Jason Dumas (@JDumasReports) May 30, 2022
That figure is even more impressive given that three of those seasons featured a cartoonishly dominant Golden State team featuring Kevin Durant. The Celtics have managed to at least split their two-game season series since the 73-9 Warriors season.
A big reason behind that success? Marcus Smart. The Celtics guard and now reigning Defensive Player of the Year has statistically been the most effective defender on Stephen Curry that the league has seen since his MVP season.
According to Second Spectrum, the Warriors star is shooting 29% from the floor when defended by Marcus Smart. Golden State has also fallen to an 85.0 offensive rating when Smart is the primary defender on Steph Curry, the second lowest among all qualified players for the metric.
How the Stephen Curry vs. Marcus Smart matchup shapes up will largely determine the outcome of the NBA Finals . Someone is bound to show the Warriors star that statistic. Whether he goes full Michael Jordan and takes it personally will be one thing to watch out for.
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