Curry vs Curry Vol. 4

 

 

 

[note]Ok, so this is a little late but better documented late than never[/note]As the Dallas Mavericks took the floor against the Golden State Warriors, Seth Curry squared off against his brother Steph Curry for just the fourth[note]The Sacramento Kings played against Steph and the Warriors four times last season but Seth only came off the bench in three of those contests[/note] time in the NBA, Seth’s first as a Maverick. This rivalry dates back over a decade when the two were just kids hanging out with their Dad at the Raptor’s practice facility.

 

During the first three rounds of ‘Curry vs Curry’ (in the NBA) Seth only played 37 total minutes, on Wednesday night he almost matched that number. Here are the rest of the Curry’s stats in their first three meetings:

 

	Minutes	Pts	3P	3P%	Rebs	Ast	Stl	TOs	+/-
Seth	37:09	16	3-6	50%	3	6	1	2	-3
Steph	98:04	81	17-33	52%	24	27	6	6	+59

 

In honor of this momentous occasion here is every possession of Curry on Curry[note]There are a lot of plays of Curry on Curry “just standing around” but who wants to see that…so we’ll bypass those for the actual basketball[/note] action:

 

Since this game was on the second night of a back-to-back, Carlisle sat JJ Barea and started Seth in his place, so ‘Curry on Curry’ happened from the jump.[note]Shoutout the Rachel Nicols[/note]

 

 

There wasn’t much activity early but Seth swiped the ball from Draymond, drove past his brother, and missed driving lay-in over Draymond on the other end.

 

 

For the rest of the first quarter there was a lot of standing next to each other and not much else.  Then, early in the second, Seth struck in the form of a long two.

 

 

A few possessions later Quincy Acy almost caught David West on a fake to the basket but Seth wasn’t on the same page.[note]This play only really counts because Steph was technically guarding Seth[/note]

 

 

Later in the second, Seth loses Steph and briefly switches off of him; until Seth deflects a pass late in the shot clock intended for Steph which causes him to throw up a tough shot, even for the reigning two-time MVP.

 

 

Then a quick missed three from Seth.

 

 

On the next possession, Steph splits the defense and his brother to get a way-to-easy-Steve-Nash-style layup.

 

 

Then Steph started to roll…

 

 

…and of course, he had to be reminding his little brother under the basket on this dead ball.

 

 

Seth tried to get his revenge on the offensive end on an iso-spin-step-back-jumper in the paint.  But he really got the best of his brother by grabbing an errant pass and getting a nice assist in transition. 

 

 

 

How about a second look?

 

 

Another Warriors turnover is wasted by a missed contested three over Steph. 

 

 

To which Steph responded with, “Watch and learn little brother. Splash. *splashing noise*”[note]Not a real quote[/note]

 

 

Steph probably got a good (internal) laugh on this missed Technical Free Throw from Seth.

 

 

Hold on, we’re halfway there[note]WHOOOOAAAA OH[/note]

 

Early in the third quarter Seth closes out on Klay and loses Curry in the corner.  Luckily, Dwight’s crazy closeout causes Steph to miss. 

 

 

The next possession Seth and Harrison Barnes pull off a solid pick and pop for a pull-up jumper.  Barnes has only executed 17 pick-and-rolls/pops this season and is shooting 67% on those plays.  After that play Seth was on a roll, just watch this defense… He’s so good he caused Steph to call timeout and Steph didn’t come back into the game for a while. 

 

 

Seth finally gets rewarded for chasing his older brother around screens all night with this steal and throws up his own transition three.  These are the plays that have everyone so excited about the younger Curry.

 

 

Of course, chasing Steph Curry around screens doesn’t get rewarded every time… 

 

 

 

Then Seth misses a jumper on the other end, but Dwight keeps the possession alive with an offensive rebound that almost ends in an assist to Dorian Finney-Smith.

 

 

On the next possession, Seth comes up big on the defensive end again and takes it coast-to-coast for a layup. He was very active on the defensive end, the Warriors will give up turnovers (8th in the League, giving up 15.9 per game), and Seth took advantage. 

 

 

Of course, Seth has been known to turn it over from time to time as well…

 

 

Then Steph beats him off the dribble and gets fouled in the lane for a lay-in.  

 

 

During the Warriors next possession Seth almost snagged his 6th steal of the night off of this Kevon Looney pass.  

 

 

Steph came out early in the fourth quarter but not before sneaking past Seth and hitting this floater in the lane…

 

 

…and ‘one-uping’ his little brother in transition on this back-to-back Curry Jumper sequence. 

 

 

Finally, Curry vs Curry Vol. 4 ends with a double turnover.  One on a pass to Seth and one on a pass(?) from Steph.

 

 

Overall, Seth did a great job on Steph defensively.  Only 17 players have had 5 steals in a game so far this season, and one of them happened to be Dwight Powell against the Lakers the night before Curry vs Curry Vol 4.  Offensively, his shots were not falling, whether Steph was guarding him or someone else (4/17 FG & 2/9 from three…).  However, he dished out nine assists and only turned it over three times which is a good ratio.  Seth has a long way to go to match Steph but overall this was a good showing by the first-year-Maverick.  Here are the updated stats for the first four rounds: 

 

	Minutes	Pts	3P	3P%	Rebs	Ast	Stl	TOs	+/-
Seth	72:12	26	5-15	33%	4	15	6	5	-22
Steph	128:54	105	25-45	56%	27	33	7	11	+75

Curry vs Curry Vol 5 will return Friday, December 30th at Golden State, stay tuned.