NBA Christmas Present: Kyrie Irving vs. Stephen Curry

NBA Christmas has a great present for us today: The matchup between Kyrie Irving and Stephen Curry.

The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors have been on a collision course for each other ever since the season began. They will finally meet on Christmas Day in a much anticipated rematch of last season’s Finals.

There are plenty of story lines surrounding this game. One of the biggest will be the battle for the best player in the NBA. While LeBron James has been the face of the league for the last decade, Steph Curry is trying to take that crown away from him. However, it is harder to compare the two players because they have two drastically different styles of play and they don’t play the same position. While they’ll be sharing the spotlight throughout the game, they won’t be matched up one on one very often.

The more compelling matchup on the floor is Curry against Irving. While they still have drastically different styles of play, there is much more similarities and they will be guarding each other for most of the game. They both play the same position, are excellent ball handlers, are outstanding shooters, and can finish at the basket.

The similarity in the numbers these two young point guards have put up in their young career’s is closer than you might think. Curry has an edge in almost every stat throughout his career, but it’s not by much. Irving averages 20 points per game throughout his career while Curry averages 20.6 per game. Curry has a field goal percentage of .475 compared to Irving’s .453. Curry also has the advantage in assists, field goal percentage, effective field goal percentage, and rebounds.

These two young superstars also have similar numbers when they square off head to head. They’ve played against each other six times throughout their career with Golden State winning four of those contests. Kyrie has done his part in keeping up with Curry when they play against each other. Irving averages 23.5 points per game and Curry averages 24 points per game in those meetings. Curry has done a better job distributing the ball in head to head meetings by averaging 8.2 assists per game compared to Irving’s 5.3. Curry also has the advantage in field goal percentage by shooting .462 from the field compared to Kyrie’s .435 shooting percentage.

While many of us remember the great head to head matchup in game 1 of last year’s Finals, there have been other great games these two young point guards have played against each other. A late December game in 2013 was a great contest that had the two point guards trading buckets down the stretch and into overtime. Irving made a 3 over Curry to send the game into overtime, but Curry had the last laugh in OT as the Warriors won 108 to 104.

There is no disputing that Curry is the top point guard in the NBA right now. Not many players in NBA history have had as impressive of a start to their year as Curry has had this season. There haven’t been many defenders that have found a way to contain Curry this season. The best way to contain him is by making him work on the defensive end of the floor, and that’s exactly what Kyrie is able to do.

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There is a reason their scoring numbers have been so similar when they face each other. Kyrie has the skills to make Curry work on the defensive end of the floor. Game 1 of the Finals was an excellent example of that. The two traded buckets back and forth until Irving went down with a knee injury in overtime. The series may have turned out differently if he wouldn’t have.

NBA Christmas Day may show us what could’ve happened if Irving wouldn’t have gone down with a knee injury.

Did you make plans to take part of this NBA Christmas present?