“Steph Curry is holding opponents to less than 38% from the field!”: JJ Redick shows love to Warriors superstar for stellar defensive work during 2022 Playoffs

Steph Curry is holding his opponents to merely 37.5% from the field during these Playoffs as the Golden State Warriors go up 3-0. 

The Golden State Warriors have gone through quite the tumultuous 2 years to be at the point that they are at today. Everything from Steph Curry breaking his left hand after Aron Baynes fell on it to Klay Thompson having a torn Achille and ACL, the Dubs have fought long and hard to be merely one win away from the 2022 NBA Finals. 

Steph Curry has been the engine that runs the Warriors’ offense for well over a decade now and yet teams are still trying to figure out how best they can defend a squad that has him on it. The threat of him shooting opens up the floor for everything else and the fact that his conditioning is as good as it is, is just icing on the cake.

Also read: “Steph Curry heard all the Luka Doncic praise and he took it PERSONAL”: Kendrick Perkins backpedals on his favorites in Warriors – Mavs series and gets torched by Dub Nation

Curry has been averaging 28 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 6.3 assists during the Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Mavericks. this is clearly an incredible statline to average and yet, the 2x MVP has found a way to be effective on the defensive end of the floor as well. 

Steph Curry has been holding opponents to less than 40% from the field in the Playoffs. 

The narrative that Steph Curry is not good on defense is one that most definitely should be left in the 2010s. Even during his unanimous MVP season, Curry led the league in steals. Steals may not be a definitive measure of good defense but it certainly shows a degree of disruption on that end of the floor. 

Another stat that shows a decent level of impact on the defensive end is defensive field goal percentage (DFG%). According to NBA stats, Steph has been holding opponents to 37.5% from the field this postseason (JJ Redick liked the tweet).

Stat of the day:

Opponents are now shooting 37.5% when defended by Steph Curry this postseason.

That ranks 1st in the NBA amongst all players who have defended at least 125 shots.

— Joey Linn (@joeylinn_) May 23, 2022

Also read: “Luka Doncic is Larry Bird on offense, Big Bird on defense”: Skip Bayless fires his blame cannon on the Dallas Mavericks superstar as Steph Curry and the Warriors go 3-0 up

DFG% is a flawed stat as it does not take into account the degree of difficulty of the shot made by the offensive player nor does it show how close or far the defender was to him. However, it should not be taken lightly as some of the best defenders in the NBA have DFG percentages that align with their abilities. 

Draymond Green and Gary Payton II are both holding their opponents to less than 40% shooting from the field as well these Playoffs.