Stephen Curry is arguably the best shooter in the history of the NBA. But his biggest impact on the Golden State Warriors isn’t just putting the ball in the basket himself, it’s his gravity.
Despite his MVP-like numbers most years, Curry’s impact goes far beyond the stat sheet, and the Warriors were reminded of that when he was out the past several weeks. His gravity opens up the floor for teammates and opens the door for elite offensive play.
Spacing the Floor
Stephen Curry attracts and sucks in defenders like no other player in the league. The threat is from his shooting, of course. Unlike nearly any other player in the league, Steph is in range the second he crosses the half-court line. And defenses in today’s NBA are forced to adjust and adapt.
The result? Every defender is taught to stick to Steph like glue at all costs. With even just a sliver of breathing room, he’ll nail a 3-pointer before the poor defender even realizes he was an inch too far away. What this does for the Warriors' offense is open up the floor. When defenders have to be eternally attached to him, the other four Warriors are free to roam about as they please, prancing to the rim and flying around screens to their heart’s content.
Defenses are left defenseless no matter what Curry does. When he drives, he’ll suck in a help defender with his propensity to finish at the basket. He then has the option to kick it back out for a 3, which will leave the defense scrambling. If Curry comes off a screen, both defenders will typically jump out at him to prevent the 3, in a brief moment of miscommunication and despair.
His importance was glaringly obvious during his absence. The Warriors missed his 29.4 points per game, definitely. But the spacing that his gravity created left a giant void in the Warriors' offense.
Without the motor that drove their free-flowing offense, they were left with Kevin Durant isolations and an overabundance of ill-advised dribbling. What followed was a four-game skid, prompting the media to question if this was the end of the Warriors' dynasty.
Creating Open Looks for Teammates
In his absence, the Warriors’ half-court offense was muddled in a lack of ball movement and player movement. Part of that was simply an effort issue. But part of it was the fact that there was a lot less room to operate. With some combination of Kevon Looney, Damian Jones, and Jordan Bell on the floor, the Warriors only have three positions left for shooters. Mixed with subpar shooting from 3 and a sudden lack of depth, the Warriors struggled mightily.
Off the bench, Jonas Jerebko is having a nice season. Andre Iguodala, so far, is not. Shaun Livingston has made a total of 13 3-pointers in his 14-year career. Alfonzo McKinnie, who was a pleasant surprise, was shelved due to injury. And Quinn Cook, while capable of knocking down open triples, has not been a reliably consistent scorer.
And so opposing defenses are grateful that the Warriors clog the paint with two centers and don’t have enough outside shooting to make them pay.
In the Warriors’ 11 games without Stephen Curry, they ranked 20th in the league in 3-point percentage over that span at 34.4 percent. In Monday’s game vs. the Atlanta Hawks, the Warriors shot a cool 58.4 percent from 3-point land. The sharp uptick in 3-point percentage occurring in Curry’s second game back is no coincidence.
Not only does Steph himself make treys, but the spacing that is created from just having him on the floor does wonders for the Warriors’ shooters. Warriors’ fundamentals like ball movement and player movement suddenly come back to life with Curry running the offense. It's as if the very presence of Curry sparks some inner dormant desire to play good basketball again.
Setting Screens
Stephen Curry also wreaks havoc with his gravity on screens. Steve Kerr discovered early on in his coaching tenure that having Curry, who’s usually the one coming off screens, set them confuses the defense to no end.
During the Warriors’ playoff series vs. the Rockets last season, Kerr commented on Steph’s screen-setting ability:
“The thing with great shooters is often times they make the best screeners…Defenders are afraid to leave Steph, as they should be because he’s coming off screens constantly. If we can get an angle then every once in awhile we can pop somebody loose when Steph sets a screen.”
A common occurrence is that after Curry sets a screen, he’ll flare out to the 3-point line. Both defenders involved can’t let an elite shooter spring free, so both desperately jump out at him. The Warrior they unwittingly forgot about can then waltz his way to the basket.
Ever since Kerr took over, the Warriors also run a lot of split action from the post. And Steph Curry’s immense gravitational pull on defenders is a large factor in its success. Curry is constantly used as the screener in these plays and typically pops out to the 3-point line. He demands so much attention that it’ll free up other Warriors for a dive or for open looks.
The gravity of Curry has caused chaos and wreaked havoc on defenses like nothing else. No matter what an opposing defense does, whether they swarm him or switch everything, they’ll be left shaking their heads, wondering how the Warriors somehow managed to score again.
It’ll be because their defense, like a dying star, collapsed, as they had no choice but to get sucked into Stephen Curry’s gravity.
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