How Curry makes it easy for Durant

Ever since asking if we all know who he is, Kevin Durant has been on fire, averaging nearly 40 points per game on high efficiency, and his playoff numbers are sensational for the third straight year. But it wasn't always this way. There was a time, back in Oklahoma City, when Durant's proficiency actually dropped off in the playoffs. Let's go back in time to the 2016 playoffs to see how teams defended Durant when he played next to Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City. There are two factors to note here. First, the paint is clogged like it's 1986, and second, there are four sets of eyes loaded up on Durant. Because Westbrook isn't a great shooter, Steph Curry can sag off and help on this Durant curl action, and the whole possession takes place in a phone booth, with Curry's positioning allowing him to nab a steal. On this play, OKC looks to iso Durant, but again, notice how the Warriors can load up on him with help on the and from the elbow, and KD settles for a double-team jumper. Teams could play him like this because his passing outlets weren't much of a threat. Andre Roberson's not even thinking about a shot here. And because Roberson can't shoot, Draymond Green doesn't care if he runs to the opposite corner, so Draymond can park himself in front of Durant. Opponents schemed specifically for Durant's offense. Curry, probably by design here, lags so Durant is never free before recovering. Back then, when Durant beat his man, he often met a wall of resistance, and complex decision making has never been his forte. He should probably skip this to the shooter, but takes one extra dribble too many and is ripped from behind. And the cumulative toll of having teams focus primarily on you can be draining. Durant still made plays, and he still hit incredible shots, it's just that everything was hard back then. When he joined Golden State, opponents almost universally preferred to take away Curry, here jumping the pick and roll to get it out of Steph's hands. Most notably, the Cavs did this in the 2017 Finals, prioritizing Curry over Durant. Even a play like this is entirely a function of Curry, where Cleveland's switching strategy glues their center to Steph, leaving KD wide open pasture once he's beaten his defender. Or take this incredibly rare play, where two defenders chase a retreating shooter in a one-on-two, leaving four-time scoring champion Kevin Durant unencumbered in the process. Clay has gravity too, and before Golden State, Durant never found himself alone under the hoop, with all eyes focused on other threats. We've seen this same thing this postseason during Durant's latest scoring tear, Curry's shooting discombobulates defenses, and Durant is the beneficiary. Just like we saw in that 2017 Finals clip, Steph paranoia is strongest in transition, LA commits two extra defenders here at the arc, and the result is a wide-open dunk for Durant. Curry, of course, can crate off the dribble too, leading to this wide-open three. But it's Curry's presence and motion that is so powerful, tugging on multiple defenders, even when one is sticking Durant. At times, there's an absurdity to Steph Curry, a Jordan Rules aberration that leads to all eyes on him, while completely forgetting about Kevin Wayne Durant of all people. The little stuff adds up too. Here's a play from his OKC days, where the defense helps one pass away. It's a standard rotation, and often leads to open shots. Again, when Durant turned a corner, he ran into help coming from a pass away. But with Curry, defenders literally run away from the ball, because they will never help off him, and Durant can benefit. In Golden State, there just aren't really defenders left to help on Durant, because they're all so preoccupied with Curry, and even at times, Klay Thompson. Against the Rockets, Golden State can fall back on Durant's lethal isolation. But with Curry next to him, it's impossible to send this double. With Curry off the floor, the equation rebalances, and Houston can load up on KD's isolation attacks. The lane's clogged here, and Harden stalks Durant's strong hand. With no Steph, Durant's bread-and-butter mid-range setup is completely different. There's a double team coming from the top, and defenders living in the paint. And those double teams make a big difference in shot quality. Durant is just 15 of 39 on his patented mid-range jumpers in the playoffs when Steph's on the bench. But with Steph back in, help's not coming, and that lane is again wide open. Make no mistake, Durant is still a phenomenal mid-range shooter, arguably the best ever in that area, which is precisely why he's so much more efficient when defenses treat him like an afterthought. This is especially true of his three-point shooting, where he can rise up over most defenders and hit incredible triples, but at a much lower percentage than when Curry carves out those wide-open looks for him. We can see the effect of all this clearly in the numbers. In the last three post-seasons, Durant is at 34.1% from downtown when Curry's on the bench, but when Steph's on the court, that number rises to 41.6%. Naturally, KD scores more, but his efficiency takes a big dip without Curry making life easy for him. This latest series against Houston is no different, with Durant scoring bunches without Steph, but at embarrassingly low percentages. If you're curious about Steph's numbers in this equation, they drop a small amount too when Durant goes to the bench. But there's one key number that captures why opposing defenses still game plan against Curry and not Durant. In the last three seasons when Durant's played without Curry, Golden State has outscored opponents by 2.4 points per 100 possessions. But with Curry added to the mix, the differential spikes to a ludicrous 15.9 per 100. This value is unidirectional though, when Durant sits and Curry stays on the court, Golden State still pounds teams by 12.4 points. All of that is not a referendum on them as players, but it does speak to how valuable Curry is for Golden State, and why teams freak out over his movement and his shooting. Ultimately all stats need context, but KD's recent playoff runs are a unique case. In Oklahoma City, his numbers fell off heavily in his final two postseasons as defenses loaded up on him, but in Golden State they've exploded. He didn't suddenly change as a player, an argument can be made that he was even better offensively with the Thunder, but playing next to an all-time court warper has lowered the difficulty setting from advanced to basic, and for me that's a major factor when judging the league's best players, and ultimately Kevin Durant's place in history. If you're wondering how Durant and Curry have changed in the postseason over the years, they're part of my analysis on players who have improved or declined in the playoffs. If you're a fan of this channel and you want to support me, head on over to patreon.com slash thinkingbasketball you get access to my historical database of stats for just four bucks a month, otherwise I hope everyone's enjoying the playoffs and you're having a great day.