The beam was lit on Saturday night, after the Golden State Warriors fell to the Sacramento Kings in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series, 126-123. Stephen Curry led the way for the Warriors, totaling 30 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists in the losing effort.
His counterpart De’Aaron Fox had himself a big night, pouring in a game-high 38 points in his playoff debut, to lead the Kings to their first playoff win since 2006.
Following Sacramento’s big Game 1 victory, Fox was asked about what guarding Curry is like. He explained that he really tried to be as disruptive as possible against “one of the craftiest players to ever touch the ball.”
“Did you all see that clip with JR Smith talking about Delly guarding Steph? That sh— real,” Fox said, laughing, via the Sacramento Kings official YouTube channel. “It’s real. I mean honestly I didn’t guard Steph the entire game, but most of the first quarter, most of the fourth quarter I guarded him. Yeah, that clip is real. Obviously, my team wants me to do things offensively. Mike [Brown] talked about it as soon as he got here, he’s not worried about what I can do offensively. He wants to see me be better defensively. And that’s something I want to take the challenge of doing. I think we’ve all seen it in spurts, but I want to do it throughout the course of a game. Playing 40 minutes and scoring 38 points is cool, but just trying to be as disruptive as possible while guarding the best player to ever shoot a basketball, not just off the catch but off the dribble. Guy’s probably one of the craftiest players to ever touch the ball. Just being able to be try and be disruptive for me is the biggest step and I think that’s kind of something that… I want to prove to myself that I can go out there and just try to hound some of the best guards in the league.”
JR Smith Claims Teammate ‘Almost Died’ Covering Warriors’ Stephen Curry
Fox referenced the story that ex-Cleveland Cavaliers guard JR Smith told during a recent appearance on The Old Man & The Three With JJ Redick and Tommy Alter. Smith had told the hosts that his teammate Matthew Dellavedova “almost died” while chasing Curry around back in 2015.
“Delly almost died guarding Steph Curry,” Smith said. “No, he literally almost died. We have footage of this man in the ice tub like literally up to his neck trying to guard this man.”
Matthew Dellavedova you will always be famous
DeAaron Fox Says Kings Want to be Physical With Warriors
Prior to Game 1, Fox had told the media that the Kings needed to be physical with Curry, along with his sharpshooting teammates, Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole.
“How we guard them will be key,” Fox said via the Sacramento Kings official YouTube channel. “How physical we are with them will be key. Obviously we want to try to limit their freedom of movement. Just because how much they move, especially guys like Klay [Thompson], Jordan [Poole], and Steph [Curry]. You just want to be able to try and control them. You can’t let them dictate the way that they want to play.”
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De’Aaron Fox Jokes About Guarding Warriors’ Steph Curry After Kings Take Game 1