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<\/a><\/p>\nWith Collin Gillespie caught against Butler\u2019s screen, Williams is compelled to step up and commit to a switch against Curry, while Brooks tries to stay put at the gap despite Green drifting deeper toward the wing. Not wanting Williams to take Curry in isolation, Gillespie attempts to recover toward Curry instead of sticking to Butler, perhaps in an effort to double Curry and pressure him at the point of attack. Meanwhile, Devin Booker stays fairly attached to Moses Moody in the corner, with Royce O\u2019Neale being the low man guarding Quinten Post in the weak-side corner.<\/p>\n
With Gillespie attempting to recover toward Curry, Butler rolls toward the rim. Despite the temptation to rotate toward Butler, Booker either chooses not to switch onto Butler or is distracted by Moody\u2019s \u201cshake\u201d (i.e., lift) from the corner toward the wing. Gillespie realizes mid-recovery that Butler slipped toward the rim and attempts to veer back toward him. By the time he realizes it, however, it is well too late:<\/p>\n
Believe it or not, this was one of only 16 possessions that was finished with a Butler roll to the rim. While taking the low volume of attempts into account, the Warriors have scored a brisk 1.438 points per possession that finished with Butler as the roll man this season. Of those 16 possessions, seven have involved Curry as the ball handler, including the possession above.<\/p>\n
Against the New York Knicks, the Warriors ran the Curry-Butler pick-and-roll in the second quarter. As opposed to a settled half-court possession, the pick-and-roll comes in the form of a drag screen by Butler in transition, a sped-up play coming off of a made free throw. The speed of the maneuver \u2014 Butler quickly slips the screen instead of setting a solid pick \u2014 catches the Knicks defense off guard. Even while Josh Hart tries to help off of the lifting Moody, the ball is already in Butler\u2019s hands by the time any sort of help collapses toward the paint:<\/p>\n
This brings into light how potent and effective the Curry-Butler tandem has been when both of them are directly involved with each other. While Steve Kerr has opted to keep these actions in the holster \u2014 in true Kerr fashion, unleashing them in high-stakes situations that call for an easy and reliable source of buckets \u2014 he has slowly been more lenient with its usage during \u201cnormal\u201d situations, such as in the instance above.<\/p>\n
During another Curry-Butler pick-and-roll possession \u2014 this time, against the Orlando Magic \u2014 the Magic opt to defend using a more conservative drop coverage against Curry, with the rationale being to keep themselves from having to rotate by keeping the on-ball action a virtual two-on-two. That requires sound execution at the point of the screen \u2014 i.e, the on-ball defender has to be able to stick to Curry in order to prevent him from punishing a drop coverage (which is a coverage typically discouraged against the greatest pull-up shooter of all time).<\/p>\n
With Butler \u201cghosting\u201d the screen and slipping toward the rim, Anthony Black is able to maintain contact with Curry around the screen, allowing Paolo Banchero to calmly contain Curry\u2019s drive. As a result, the Magic defense is allowed to stay home without the need to rotate:<\/p>\n