It's one of the unequivocal facts of life, and it extends to the basketball court - real recognize real.
That's certainly the case when it comes to four-time Most Valuable Player LeBron James and reigning MVP Stephen Curry.
LeBron when asked how do you slow down Steph Curry: "The same way you slow me down ... You can't."
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) May 29, 2015
LeBron certainly has a point. While teams can hope to make life more difficult for each respective superstar, slowing down players of the caliber of James and Curry is likely more reliant on them merely having an off night than anything the defense is doing.
Having said that, if Cleveland does have any hopes of slowing down the baby-faced assassin, the Cavs would be wise to look back on Curry's last two series.
The Memphis Grizzlies defended Curry aggressively, particularly on pick-and-rolls, forcing the ball out of the slithery point guard's hands. The Houston Rockets were less aggressive, leading to a comical amount of space and open looks for one of the greatest shooters the league's ever seen.
The Cavs obviously can't overhaul their defensive strategy in the span of a week, and they finally found defensive success after becoming a more conservative team, defending pick-and-rolls with Timofey Mozgov anchoring things. But unless they're ready to accept James's assertion that slowing Curry down is impossible, they'll have to at least give him some different looks.
As for James, the key to slowing him down is simply allowing him to continue using an absurd percentage of Cleveland's possessions in the hopes that he tires. That's been the story of LeBron's postseason thus far, as his career-high usage has resulted in decreased offensive efficiency.
Then you just have to worry about him averaging a triple-double and dominating the game in every other conceivable way. No big deal.
