Can San Antonio find an Answer for Curry and the Warriors

Can San Antonio stop Stephen? That is the big question in the semifinal best of seven series between the San Antonio Spurs and the Golden State Warriors. The Spurs won game 1 of the series in overtime thanks to a heroic shot by Manu Ginobili.

However, the Spurs had a hard time stopping the sharpshooting point guard Curry, who ended the game with 44 points. In game 2, the Warriors won 100-91 thanks to 34 points from Klay Thompson, while Curry added 22.

Curry scored an average of 23 points per game during the regular season and 24.3 during the first round best of seven series with Denver that Golden State won 4-2. Curry has started this semifinal series with an average of 33 points per game to increase his postseason average to 26.5 ppg.

In game one Curry hit 18 of his 35 shot and 6 of 14 from three-point range and in game 2 his was just 7 for 20, but the Spurs keyed on him so much that Thompson was able to burn them for his 34 points.

During the regular season, Curry set an NBA record for three pointers with 272.

The Spurs must come up with a way to stop Curry or will risk the Warriors stealing the series. The problem the Spurs face as well as every other team that faces Golden State is Curry shooting ability. The sharpshooter can shoot from far out and gets his shot off quicker than most other players making it very hard to defend him.

Not many teams have had as much success at shutting down Curry as the Chicago Bulls have. In the two games the Bulls played Golden State, Curry only hit 9 of his 31 shots, including only 3 of his 12 three pointers. He averaged only 14.5 points in the two games.

The Bulls play such a good pick and roll defense with Joakim Noah the catalyst that it makes it hard for offensive players to get open off the pick.

A number of NBA scouts have said it is mandatory to throw a number of different looks at Curry to throw him off his game. The Spurs will do just that by using Kawhi Leonard, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Danny Green and anyone else on the roster that can slow the shooter down.

The Spurs know that Curry cannot play freely or he will be shooting the lights out all night. In game 3, look for him to be pressured, denied the ball and being kept off the 3-point line as he was in game 2. If the Spurs can overplay Curry and make him give the ball up more often, then their chances of winning improve dramatically. The Spurs need to make the rest of Warriors players step up and produce just as Thompson did in game 2, but this is a seven game series and just one win is not enough.

If the Spurs cannot control Curry’s scoring they could be facing another deficit they cannot overcome. In game 1, the Spurs became the first team in the history of postseason to rally from being down by 16 points with just 4 minutes left in regulation. However, in game 2, the Spurs were down by as much as 20 points, but could only work it back to as close as 8 points.

Ginobili’s 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds left in the second overtime gave the Spurs the win in game 1 and was the 30^th straight game the Warriors have lost on San Antonio’s court, until the Warriors won on Wednesday to break their losing streak.