OAKLAND, Calif. — There is no right way to defend Stephen Curry, but there are many painful ones. The Trail Blazers began the Western Conference finals with a prime example: a drop-style coverage that allowed the best shooter in the world to step into an open three-pointer whenever he liked, the basketball equivalent of self-immolation. No team wants to put itself in that position. It is Curry and the Warriors who force them there.
A playoff series against Golden State is inhospitable to most traditional centers, given the distance between the tactical battlegrounds involved and a big man’s typical comfort zone.