Perfect Matchup Means Warriors Can Save Stephen Curry for San Antonio Spurs

If Stephen Curry suits up at any point in the Golden State Warriors’ second-round series against the Portland Trail Blazers, necessity will have very little to do with it.

From the looks of a 118-106 Game 1 trouncing on Sunday, the Dubs are more than capable of resting their best player and preserving him for the series that really matters. You know, the one against the San Antonio Spurs (who smashed the Oklahoma City Thunder, 124-94, in their own Game 1 win) that we’ve all been waiting for since November.

That’s when the Warriors will need all their shotmaking brilliance, pace-pushing potency and historically fearsome hybrid lineups.

For now, it’s more like, “Relax, Steph; we’ve got this.”

Built to Bury the Blazers

Golden State’s backcourt length is perfect for bottling up Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, and when those two don’t work themselves into space for clean looks, the Blazers offense stalls out. This dependence on two players to generate offense is where the struggles of Portland’s rebuilding efforts show most.

Yes, the franchise is years ahead of schedule because it spent wisely on young role-fillers to surround its high-scoring duo. But because no one else on the roster can create shots for himself or others, stopping Lillard and McCollum means the Blazers don’t score.

Between Shaun Livingston, Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala, the Warriors boast one of the rangiest backcourt defensive rotations in the league. They limited Lillard and McCollum to a combined 13-of-43 from the field in Game 1, forcing both to subsist on low-percentage looks. Lillard got his 30 points, but you’d be hard pressed to think of more than one or two quality, uncontested attempts in the process.

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In addition to elite point-of-attack defenders, the Warriors are uniquely equipped to bottle up the Blazers guards because of their aggressive switching schemes.

When Portland tried to extricate Lillard from Livingston or Thompson with picks above the arc, Draymond Green hungrily jumped out to switch. He relishes the challenge of corralling elite point guards.

Against Lillard, Green was no less fierce. Even when he wasn’t involved in the play directly, his …

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