How Steph Curry spammed a classic Warriors pick-and-roll set to get bragging rights over Klay Thompson and the Mavericks

Dubs went to Curry on this play over and over to complete the NBA Cup win.

To properly explain what Steph Curry just did to the Dallas Mavericks in the Golden State Warriors’ first win of the NBA Cup, let’s go back — all the way back — to two years and three seasons ago, during Game 2 of the 2022 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics. At the 3:04 mark of the third quarter — after Curry did his part on defense by moving his feet laterally against Payton Pritchard and helping force a stop — Steve Kerr got up to inform his players of the half-court set he wanted them to run. Without context, Kerr would look pretty silly to the casual observer with his seemingly random hand signals and rampant yelling in order to make his voice heard.

Kerr’s “silly” hand gestures involved his right hand repeatedly moving forward and backward, followed by a rolling motion using his two hands, while also yelling out his terminology for the set. If you can read lips at a decent enough level, you can deduce what he was trying to say:

The clue for what “dive roll” exactly means is in the name itself: Kerr calls for a player to dive, followed by a pick-and-roll. Sounds simple enough, but there’s actually a bit of complexity in what otherwise looks like a straightforward play.

Again, delving into the past in order to understand the present (or recent past in this case), Curry calling out the very same set — amusingly, also against the Mavericks — leads to more clarity:

“Dive Roll” — the Warriors’ call for what is generally known as “Twist” or “Horns Twist” action — is consecutive ball screens for Curry, set one after the other from opposite directions.

In the example above, the first screen — set by Jonathan Kuminga — forces Luka Dončić to switch onto Curry. The second screen set by Kevon Looney comes in soon after to force Dončić to navigate (not a particular strength of his) as well as force Dwight Powell into the action. Powell is in drop coverage and momentarily distracted by Kuminga clearing out to the corner, which ends up costing him.

Nearly two years later, Kerr dials up a possession of “Dive Roll” once again — against the same team, against the same on-ball target in Dončić, but against a different center. With Powell mired deep behind Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II in the Mavs’ center rotation, Lively finds himself in the same exact situation and facing the same dilemma that his veteran did two years ago.

Again, the switch onto Dončić is achieved, while the first screener (Andrew Wiggins) clears out to the weak side. His clear-out has the (intended) side effect of acting as a “brush” screen/distraction of sorts on Lively, who starts the possession in drop coverage. Lively tries to step up to contest Curry around the second screen, but he starts from a position of massive disadvantage — and Curry, the ultimate drop-coverage destroyer, capitalizes.

Soon after, the Warriors run “Dive Roll” again, in an effort to test if the Mavs are willing to draw Lively up to the level of the screen at the very least, have him commit to a hedge or blitz in a two-to-the-ball setup, or outright switch him out on the perimeter. A team of the Mavs’ caliber won’t just play the same coverage over and over again — i.e., be content with Lively in drop coverage. In that regard, they choose not to leave Lively on an island and have him step up higher to take away Curry’s space around the screen.

To give full credit to the Mavs’ defense — Quentin Grimes, in particular — someone does step up to rotate and help against Trayce Jackson-Davis once Curry hits him on the roll. But Jackson-Davis counters with a better finish amidst contact:

With less than three minutes left in the fourth quarter — and clutch period ensuing with the Warriors down four to the Mavs — Kerr calls for “Dive Roll” anew. Once again, Wiggins sets the first screen to draw Dončić onto Curry, followed by the second screen by Green, which brings up Gafford. While Gafford steps up higher compared to the initial “Dive Roll” possession from Lively, he apparently doesn’t step up high enough:

A couple of possessions after a massive block by Green on Gafford:

The Warriors run “Dive Roll” for Curry again. As expected, Dončić comes over to switch onto Curry, with Lively — in place of Gafford — stepping up and keeping himself at the level of the oncoming second screen. Curry sees this and pounces immediately on the Mavs’ knowledge of what’s to come:

Curry rejects the screen, blows past Dončić and — with the Mavs’ only source of rim protection drawn up high — gets the clear lane for the layup.

After a Wiggins stop on Dončić, the Warriors saunter back to run — you guessed it — “Dive Roll,” with Curry and Green making sure to point it out to the rest of their teammates on the floor. This time around, the Mavs switch every screen: first, Dončić comes up, followed by Lively switching onto Curry and taking a shot at defending him in isolation.

But as Curry has done to many bigs during his storied career, he has the uncanny ability to make them dance to his tune and look foolish in their choice of trying their luck:

With that dagger and a “night, night” to send Klay Thompson and the Mavs packing (for now), Curry now has temporary bragging rights over his former Splash Brother — and helps the Warriors get off to a good start in this year’s edition of the NBA Cup.