Trae responds to getting Steph treatment with box-and-one D originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
Trae Young received the Steph Curry treatment from the Warriors in the second half on Monday night, and it wasn’t much fun.
As Curry usually sees all kinds of odd defenses thrown at him, the Warriors did just that to Young on their to way to beating the Atlanta Hawks, 127-113, at Chase Center. For the majority of the second half, the Warriors played and box-and-one defense on Young, who is one of the elite scorers in the NBA.
“They were box-and-one-ing me the whole second half or most of that second half,” Young said to reporters. “Every time I come off a screen, they trap.”
It worked, too.
Young scored 28 points, which was second to only Curry’s 50 for the night. However, 21 of his 28 points came in the first half. He then scored seven points in the third quarter and was held scoreless in the fourth quarter.
In the first half, Young shot the ball 14 times. He only had six shots in the second half and was minus-11 in plus-minus following halftime. Young was a minus-nine for the night.
“We kind of did it to Steph later in the game,” Young said. “But their team is so wired and they know how to — when Steph gets trapped, Steph gets off it and Draymond is throwing a lob and finding another shooter.
“They’re wired like that. They’ve been through this so they know how to handle when Steph’s getting trapped and things like that.”
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Curry couldn’t help but smile at being on the other end of the box-and-one.
“I loved it,” Curry said. “It felt great being on the elbow rather than trying to run around myself.”
The Warriors trailed 65-61 at the end of the first half. They outscored the Hawks 66-48 in the second half. By any means necessary, Steve Kerr and the Warriors made the adjustment on Young and it worked wonders.