There is a lot Steph Curry can teach young NBA players, both directly and indirectly.
The four-time NBA champion has seen it all. He’s done it all. He’s gone up against just about every type of defensive matchup.
And yet, at age 37, other teams still struggled to contain the Warriors superstar.
Which is why Indiana Pacers star guard Tyrese Haliburton, per Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix, turned to Curry, or his film, to prepare for another physical matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
“After two games of wrestling with Oklahoma City’s defense, of battling waves of defenders that just kept coming, Tyrese Haliburton cracked open his laptop to study someone familiar with it,” Mannix wrote. “Few players in NBA history are as adept at shedding a physical defense as Stephen Curry, the Warriors superstar who has powered Golden State to four championships … and counting.
“Early in the week, Haliburton’s trainer, Drew Hanlen, fired off a file of a decade’s worth of Curry’s postseason field goals, a highlight reel of Curry torching defenders from San Antonio to Houston, Cleveland to Boston. A generation of shooters have been inspired by Curry. In his first NBA Finals, perhaps Haliburton could be, too.”
The result? A near-triple-double, as Haliburton scored 22 points with nine rebounds and 11 assists on 9-of-17 shooting from the field and 4 of 8 from 3-point range in Indiana’s 116-107 Game 3 win.
The Pacers now lead the Thunder two games to one in the best-of-seven series and are two wins away from capping off their storybook 2024-25 NBA season with the franchise’s first-ever championship.
Curry knows a thing or two about closing teams out in the Finals, perhaps Haliburton should continue to take a page out of his playbook.
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