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Stephen Curry on Rockets: I guess I have to play defense

Courtesy of USA Today Images

Houston Rockets point guard Ty Lawson thought Stephen Curry was just “chillin'” on defense during the 2015 playoffs and essentially promised to change that this season, but the reigning MVP isn’t too worried.

According to ESPN’s Ethan Sherwood Strauss, the Golden State Warriors guard joked that the only change he needs to make this season is play defense.

After all, the Warriors swept the Rockets during the regular season and only needed five games to dispatch Houston from the Western Conference Finals. Curry averaged 28.8 points over those nine outings.

To a degree, Lawson is right. Curry didn’t spend extra effort on the one side of the floor and wasn’t challenged much offensively because defensive specialist Patrick Beverley was injured for the postseason. Jason Terry and Pablo Prigioni weren’t exactly up for Curry’s greatness.

On the other hand, this might be a little more difficult than Lawson bargained for. Curry scored 30 points and dished 15 assists in just 45 minutes against the Denver Nuggets last season. Adjusted to a per-36-minute pace, he averaged 24 points and 12 assists .

Lawson is an upgrade, but he’s not a perfect answer. Stopping Curry isn’t a one-man job.

Even if the new point guard helps the Rockets contain the Baby-Faced Assassin, all it will take for the Warriors to counteract that problem is a little more defense from Curry.

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