On their way to the 2015 NBA Finals, Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors dismissed the Houston Rockets in five games.
Ty Lawson was watching the Western Conference Finals with great interest, and says he watched Curry basically coast on defense.
Lawson is now playing for a title in Houston, and says the League’s reigning MVP will have to work extra-hard should the two teams run into each other again in the postseason.
Per Yahoo! Sports:
Before Ty Lawson texted James Harden with a plea – “Man, get me over there” – he had studied the NBA’s Most Valuable Player in the Western Conference Finals and come to a conclusion: Half the time, Steph Curry was coasting. […] “Steph Curry needed someone to go back at him,” Lawson said. “I thought Steph was just chillin’ on defense – and then going crazy on offense. He looked like he was just putting shots up and not working so much on the defensive end. He would just come down and hit three or four 3s. He can shoot when he’s got his legs under him.”
Now, Ty Lawson is sitting at a table in a room in the Toyota Center. He’s wearing a Houston Rockets practice top and a smile that keeps coming, and feeling so, so sure of himself again. “I’m not saying, ‘Oh, I’m going to stop Steph,’ but just make him work harder at the other end. I saw that in the Cavs series too. […] “He wasn’t really working at the other end.”
“I don’t think you’ve ever seen so many good point guards in one conference at one time in the league ever,” Lawson said. “But you’ve got to win. If you want to be an elite PG in this league, you’ve got to win. You’ve got to be in the conference finals, the NBA Finals. If you’re not winning, you’ll always be a second-tier, or third-tier point guard.”
