OKC Thunder Face Difficult Task of Slowing Steph Curry Without Lu Dort

The Oklahoma City Thunder are facing an always difficult task of slowing down the prolific scorer that is Steph Curry. But the OKC Thunder will have to do so without Lu Dort.

Nov 10, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) moves the ball down the court against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cason Wallace (22) during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

It's never easy to check Steph Curry. The Golden State Warriors guard is one of the best scorers we have ever seen, the best sharpshooter the league has produced, a sure fire Hall of Famer, two-time scoring champion and averaging 26 points per game at age 37 through the first eight games of this season.

However, the Oklahoma City Thunder will have a harder time than before with their lengthy injury report. Their all-defensive guard Lu Dort and All-defensive swingman Jalen Williams are both out for the Bricktown Ballers setting their point of attack defense behind the eight ball with their depth.

Though, the OKC Thunder are able to rely on third year guard Cason Wallace –– who leads the NBA in steals per game –– can handle the Curry assignment as best of anyone has a chance to. When Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gets switched on to Curry, his length makes him able to compete and contest shots and off the bench the Thunder could try Alex Caruso on the sharpshooter.

However, the problem there lies with having to defend Jimmy Butler off of Curry. His size and scoring prowess presents an interesting problem for the Thunder. Ajay Mitchell and Wallace are too small, the matchup of Gilgeous-Alexander is too taxing to hold up against Butler for 48 minutes and the only body big enough to defend him straight up is the aforementioned Caruso.

Mark Daigneault will have to scheme up unique ways to slow down this Warriors team, perhaps leaning into playing zone defense more to make up for the lack of size detering Butler.

Oklahoma City should be able to control the paint on both ends of the floor against a smaller Golden State squad sans Al Horford, which could give them a nice counter to this scoring punch.

Watching Shai Gilgeous-Alexander clash with Curry will be must-see TV as two of the best scorers in NBA history go toe-to-toe. Not many of these matchups are guaranteed in the future, so it is important to not take them for granted in the present day.

How the Oklahoma City Thunder handle this matchup will be key, from not only a slowing down Golden State perspective but in a load management perspective as this game is on the front end of a back-to-back with the Los Angeles Lakers due up next on Wednesday night inside the Paycom Center as part of a National Televised doubleheader.