Remember all that talk after Game 3 of the NBA Finals about Matthew Dellavedova being a “Steph Curry stopper”? Yeah, well it didn’t sit well with the Warriors.
According to John Kuntz of Northeast Ohio Media Group, Warriors players were ticked that Delly was getting all this glory for supposedly shutting down Curry. Here’s what Kuntz reported:
Sources within the Warriors’ organization say they were “pissed off” and “irked” by the media attention Dellavedova was receiving and the narrative of the Australian “locking down” the league’s MVP.
Golden State center Andrew Bogut even was quoted as saying that all talk, sub-par games and losses inspired Curry.
“People have lit a fire under Steph, which is good thing,” Andrew Bogut told NEOMG. “It’s something that you don’t want to do. It worked out well. We know Delly is a great defender, but we know he’s not a Curry stopper.”
After looking good against Curry in Games 2 and 3 of the Finals, Delly wasn’t as hot in Game 4. Curry had 27 points, 7 assists and made 4-of-7 3-pointers in a Game 4 win and looked much more like himself again.
None of this should come as a surprise. Klay Thompson’s dad expressed a similar thought prior to Game 4, which might have been an extension of how his son felt. Bottom line: if the Warriors have their way, we won’t be seeing anything like this again.
