Curry mentions Klay's defense, Kerr's plan in response to Durant's comments
If Stephen Curry and his 73-win, defending champion Warriors needed any bulletin-board material to get back in their Western Conference finals series against the Thunder, they may have found it Thursday night.
Following Golden State's Game 5 win to stave off elimination and send the series back to Oklahoma City, Russell Westbrook laughed off a question about Curry's defense. Kevin Durant, meanwhile, who was stripped by Curry on a key, late-game possession, noted that Curry doesn't usually guard the game's best point guards, something left for Warriors like Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, and Shaun Livingston.
When told about their remarks at his own post-game media conference, Curry refused to take the bait, saying that Thompson is a better perimeter defender than he is, and that he simply executes the game-plan that head coach Steve Kerr executes.
The two-time MVP did add, however, that he has been working to improve his defense over last four years or so.
Curry's defensive improvement is quite obvious to anyone who's paid attention over the last couple of seasons, and while Durant mentioned that he likes the matchup for OKC when Curry guards Westbrook, the numbers suggest KD should enjoy anything but.
Per ESPN Stats and Information, Russell Westbrook is 8-of-25 FG with 7 turnovers when Steph Curry is his primary defender in this series.
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) May 27, 2016
Here’s how Russ shot against Curry, Livingston, Iguodala, Green in Game 4: pic.twitter.com/7Dyyr0LXdk
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) May 25, 2016
Curry and the Warriors can continue to work their way towards getting the last laugh when Game 6 tips off Saturday night in Oklahoma City, while the Thunder can punch a ticket to the NBA Finals with one more win.