For his final blow, Stephen Curry used a screen from Draymond Green to get Al Horford onto him. Way out by the half-court line, Curry leaned over and dribbled, the Boston Celtics center on his hip, waiting for space to clear out.
Horford’s been on this island before.
Curry suddenly took off, easily blowing past Horford as the clock dipped below 50 seconds. Boston worked hard to take away his 3-pointer. But Curry’s drives were doing damage. Derrick White, the stellar Celtics guard, left his man to cut off Curry in the paint. The whole time, Jayson Tatum stood on the left wing watching Curry. Rightfully so. The Golden State Warriors were up four and needed a basket to seal the win. This is the time to focus on Curry.
Tatum had seen this movie before.
What Tatum didn’t see was the man he was defending drifting along the sidelines. Curry’s ninth assist was easy. Buddy Hield was wide-open on the right wing. Ball game.
BUDDY HIELD
CLUTCH!!!!📺 @NBCSAuthentic pic.twitter.com/CvQGhKrie0
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) November 7, 2024
This assuredly felt like a familiar fright to Boston fans. Curry terrorizing their team. Some of the edge has been taken off since the Celtics captured the banner he denied them in 2022. Still, Curry taunts the Celtics in a special way, the latest occasion a 118-112 Warriors win Wednesday at TD Garden.
Those who’d disparage the culinary skills of a man’s wife earn themselves a nemesis.
In that sense, Boston was the perfect foe in the Warriors’ first “real” game against a truly elite opponent. Their 6-1 start, surprising as it was, lacked the gravitas of a big win.
But Wednesday night, Curry delivered one to his cohorts. His 27 points were typical. More important was his closing of a game that validated the Warriors’ start to the season.
It was a suffocating defensive performance by the Warriors, corralling one of the league’s most potent offenses. It was an uptempo offense, as the Warriors backed away from the 3-point line in favor of applying transition pressure. The Celtics, as they do, jacked up a ton of 3s. They made 19 of 54.
But in the end, when it was time to win, the Warriors had the best player on the floor. And if they can get him to that point, he can still deliver at 36.
The Celtics helped the Warriors prove their theory in what amounts to their biggest test so far this season. Their defensive aggression, their ball movement, their motion, and most of all, their depth, make them viable.
The Warriors come in waves. They have two units they can throw at teams. They have variations they can conjure — from big and defensive to athletic and long to quick with shooting. Their playing style requires commitment. One, to be at peace with whatever the role is, at least for the moment. Two, to turn up, leave nothing to spare. Their hunger is tangible.
“That’s how we have to play it,” Curry said. “And we’ve talked about it. Coach (Steve Kerr) talked about it ’til he’s blue in the face already. Like every practice, every film session, every pre-game talk — it’s the same message. So it is who we are right now. It’s who we have to be.”
The Warriors did it with their new staple — perimeter ball pressure — and a tethered reaction to their individual aggressiveness. Not only are they out past the 3-point line applying pressure, they are rotating with a noted desperation. The help defender in their scheme descends with a vulture’s thirst, taking advantage of the league’s longer leash on physicality.
They can play this way because they’ve got the bodies. They can play this way because they’ve bought into the mentality. They can play this way because, on both ends of the court, they’ve got a prominent quarterback.
On defense, Green orchestrates a pack of wolves. One of the great tells of a defensive mindset is on closeouts. The Warriors rarely don’t run out on 3s. Even when they’re late on rotation, even when an assignment is blown, Green or Andrew Wiggins or Gary Payton II or Kyle Anderson still always sprints to the contest.
The defensive identity is visibly forming.
“Just our activity,” Kevon Looney said. “We were flying around. We were real physical. They missed some shots. They missed some 3s. But we made them uncomfortable. I feel like we were able to get them off their spots and they weren’t able to get a rhythm.”
It’s evident in Curry, too. Because of the depth, he can be fresh enough to play both ends with focus and relentlessness. Because he doesn’t have to force the action and can let the offense take the rock where it may, he can pick his spots instead of feeling the need to save them.
So when the end of the game came, he was able to do to Boston what he does to Boston.
The Warriors were down 95-88 with just over six minutes remaining. A Curry steal led to a Wiggins layup on the other end. The next time down, Curry fought over a screen to stay attached to White, leaving Wiggins on Tatum. Curry didn’t just accept the switch the Celtics wanted.
Tatum missed a 3 and Curry followed by getting fouled on a 3-pointer. The next time down, Curry drilled an open 3 from the left wing after Boston blew a defensive assignment. Soon after, Curry’s rebound and quick outlet led to a Hield layup.
It was clear what was happening. A replay of a scene, even if the pieces are different. When Curry set up that final dagger, he dished the ball off and watched as if he knew it was going in. It wasn’t Klay Thompson. It was Hield, who’s been shooting the lights out.
The response from White was as if it was Thompson. After cutting off Curry in the lane, he saw what was developing and covered for Tatum. With all he had, he ran out to Hield, leaping in the air, hoping to distract the marksman. But White was too late. The splash of the net was almost inevitable.
White had felt that inevitability before.
(Top photo of Buddy Hield and Stephen Curry celebrating during Wednesday’s game: David Dow / NBAE via Getty Images)
