Chicago Bulls: 3 players that can shut down Stephen Curry
Chicago Bulls players that can limit Stephen Curry: Lonzo Ball
At the outset of this game, it would be pretty surprising if Donovan and the Bulls didn’t elect to play the 6-foot-6 two-way standout point guard Lonzo Ball on Steph. Unless Donovan decides to stick someone like Green on Steph at the outset of the game, Lonzo would make the most sense to start out matching up with him right away.
Lonzo definitely has the length and on-ball perimeter defending ability to hang with Steph better than most other guards in this league. So far this season, Lonzo registered around two steals per game, one block, with a solid 104 defensive rating.
There is one point of upside with the Bulls matching Lonzo up with Steph, and one very notable downside.
The downside will be the fact that guards have shot better than 40 percent from beyond the arc when Lonzo is matched up with them this season. Even last season, opposing guards shot better than 37 percent from beyond the arc when Lonzo was matched up against them.
With how much of a threat Steph can be from beyond the arc, Lonzo playing a little softer defense might hurt the Bulls.
On the other hand, Lonzo is someone that can be a turnover-generating machine. He’s helped to generate an impressive 20 turnovers when defending guards this season. Compare that with only 22 assists allowed on guards he was defending, and you get a really solid assist-to-turnover ratio when he’s on defense.
Another big part of Steph’s game is facilitating the offense. As the primary distributor and initiator on this offense for the Warriors, the Bulls could get some value out of having Lonzo try to force some additional turnovers out of Curry.
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This sort of trade-off between generating turnovers and allowing a high three-point shooting percentage was present for Lonzo when he defended Steph last season. Steph shot around 54 percent from the field and 50 percent from beyond the arc when Lonzo was matched up with him last season. But Lonzo also helped to force four turnovers from Steph, compared to allowing just one assist.