Curry vs Butler (Rocket Series)

[StrongLurk]

Curry had to play almost half the series without Jimmy so his sample size is almost twice as big. Jimmy's had Steph for almost all his minutes on the court. That matters I think. Steph had his best game of the series without Jimmy but I'm not sure Jimmy could do the same if Steph was out and the Rockets could just focus their entire defense on him.

Curry's taking more shots and has a higher TS% despite not getting to the line nearly as much which is very impressive. It's just the turnovers that's bad for Steph but he's also seeing more double-teams and has to work harder for his shots. He was the 3rd most important player in Game 4 though you could argue 2nd, I think Jimmy and Dray had more impact on closing out the game but the attention Curry gets from opposing defenses creates a lot of shots for his teammates.

My main point is so many people are crediting just Curry for getting a 3-1 lead in this series. He's been good of course, but Butler has been a top 5 impactful player in the playoffs WHEN he has been on the court.

[tpols]

My main point is so many people are crediting just Curry for getting a 3-1 lead in this series. He's been good of course, but Butler has been a top 5 impactful player in the playoffs WHEN he has been on the court.

He's only been on the court for half the series though. That's why your stats and post don't make sense.

[Axe]

Curry had to play almost half the series without Jimmy so his sample size is almost twice as big. Jimmy's had Steph for almost all his minutes on the court. That matters I think. Steph had his best game of the series without Jimmy but I'm not sure Jimmy could do the same if Steph was out and the Rockets could just focus their entire defense on him.

Curry's taking more shots and has a higher TS% despite not getting to the line nearly as much which is very impressive. It's just the turnovers that's bad for Steph but he's also seeing more double-teams and has to work harder for his shots. He was the 3rd most important player in Game 4 though you could argue 2nd, I think Jimmy and Dray had more impact on closing out the game but the attention Curry gets from opposing defenses creates a lot of shots for his teammates.

Well, he's had those impressive feats but i don't think they're quite convincing if you consider the fact that games 3 and 4 happened in their own floor. Where they're more or less expected to win important games there. But if he did in texas without butler? It's a whole different story imo.

[Im Still Ballin]

Jimmy's slow and measured approach is the perfect balancing act to Curry's frenetic attack. He provides an ideal change of tempo for the high-leverage environment of the playoffs.

[ImKobe]

My main point is so many people are crediting just Curry for getting a 3-1 lead in this series. He's been good of course, but Butler has been a top 5 impactful player in the playoffs WHEN he has been on the court.

That's fine. Jimmy's been great in 2 of their 3 wins. If you're saying he's been top 5 most impactful Curry's gotta be right there with him despite what these metrics tell you. They're kinda looking like Bron/AD in 2020 right now both with how efficient they've been scoring the ball, and doing it vs. the Rockets' defense is impressive.

[Neal Romer]

My feeling was the Butler addition added an extra round to the Warriors ceiling.

If they were gonna lose the play-in without him, they'd win the play-in with him. If they were gonna lose round 1 without him they'd win a round 1 with him.

I honestly didnt think it made them Finals contenders and I still dont. I know if you just look at the result of this series you probably think the Warriors are clearly better than the Rockets, but they really havent been. The Rockets missed 12 free throws last game and lost by 1 point. There was another game where they were right there and just some very small losses of composure cost them the game. The Warriors veteran experience has given them the slightest edge in this series and that's what's making the difference, but it's not like the Warriors are just visibly outclassing them from start to finish. It's been a very close series. The Rockets are beating themselves more than getting dominated by San Fransisco. Theyre still a year away at this point.

Whoever the Warriors play in the next two rounds are not gonna be the playoff neophytes these Rockets are. Could they win one more series? Sure, it's possible. But they dont look to me like a team with a very good chance of getting 2 or 3 more.