TORONTO — In the 2016 NBA Finals, the Cleveland Cavaliers had a rule. Former Cavs and current Pelicans general manager David Griffin termed it, “Get a touch on that motherfucker, every time.”



“That motherfucker” was Steph Curry, the transcendent star who often does not appear to be bound by decades of basketball convention. Like the gun vs. the sword scene from Indiana Jones in “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, Curry shrugged and fired away at his lesser armed opponents from a comfortable remove.



Opposing teams were desperate to make his life more uncomfortable. Some of that could be accomplished through playing diligent defense, but it just wasn’t enough. Curry was too skilled and the Warriors were too offensively adroit an operation. It turned out that some of the best defense on Curry was a punishing style of offense.



After all, Curry’s smaller. He’s skinnier. Though blessed with perhaps the...