GOOD News for the Golden State Warriors coach

In an era where traditional point guards — the yell-out-the-play, point-to-spots-on-the-floor kind who make sure that everyone is running the correct set, are where they’re supposed to be, and by default is the best decision-maker on the floor — are a dying breed, it’s nice to have someone like that to calm things down in the half court.

There are benefits to playing a fast-paced game. Off of misses, defenses are often scrambling to get back and set up their half-court defense. The more you put pressure on them to hurry back and get organized, the likelier they’ll make mistakes. Bigs will get matched up against quicker guards; smalls will get sealed in underneath the paint against larger and stronger centers.

Even off of made baskets, a team who relaxes and thinks that nothing will happen because the other team got the ball out of the bucket can suddenly find themselves victim to an early offense set — or worse, a leak out in transition.

But the faster an offense plays, the higher the odds of themselves making mistakes. That has often been the tightrope that the Golden State Warriors have treaded all these years in the Steph Curry era. Playing small allows them to outrun and outgun opponents — but it makes them prone to the pitfalls of playing fast.

Slowing things down in the half court means that the Warriors are even more dependent on their main moneymakers to create efficient offense. Curry has carried that mantle for more than a decade, both as on off-ball menace and as an on-ball primary handler.

The on-ball part can be as much of a risk as it is a benefit. Curry has been the Warriors’ best pick-and-roll operator and isolation scorer. When given the opportunity to do so, he’s shown that he can pass as well as the best passers in the league. But turnovers have been a problem for him throughout his career due to his small stature and his penchant for playing fast.

With Chris Paul on the team, Curry has the freedom to be in the off-ball role that he has thrived in historically. While the team still needs him to be an on-ball scorer, having a traditional point guard who not only can make good decisions but also present as a scoring threat increases the Warriors’ ceiling during half-court possessions on offense.

Paul’s mastery of the point guard position needs no further explanation. If given the choice, he prefers the methodical approach. He takes stock of the opposing defense, sees which sets take advantage of the chinks in the armor, and make sure to communicate his intentions to the rest of his team.

Furthermore, he makes sure to put his best teammates in a position to score.

Fifty-one” (51) is the Warriors’ play call for double drag screens with an empty corner where one screener (typically the second screener) is a shooter, who then comes off of a flare screen by the first screener. In the case above, Curry is the one setting the second screen. With Dillon Brooks on the bench with foul trouble, Fred VanVleet is guarding Curry, with Jalen Green on Paul.

While VanVleet is a capable defender, Paul recognizes that putting Green in the screening action forces the Houston Rockets to have to make a choice. Do we switch Green onto Curry? Do we want VanVleet trying to stay connected and fighting over the flare screen? Do we send two to the ball and hope that the ball handler makes a mistake; at the very least, hope that the set grinds to a halt?

The Rockets chose the third option: Green and Jabari Smith Jr. doubling Paul, which means VanVleet is left all alone on the flare screen action for Curry. VanVleet gets caught up on the flare screen, while Green notices that Curry is left open. In his attempt to recover toward Curry, Green fouls and coughs up the four-point play.

This is a set more commonly run for Klay Thompson, who drilled one of his five threes against the Rockets off of “51” action — set up and assisted by none other than Paul himself: