"I'll deny him and let them four others play" - 9-time All-Star on his strategy against Steph Curry if he was playing on today’s NBA

Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors is one of the toughest players to guard in the NBA today. Curry's shooting ability makes it difficult, but his passing and dribbling makes it even harder. However, one of the greatest defensive guards ever has a solution.

In a recent appearance on "The Old Man and the Three" podcast with JJ Redick and Tommy Alter, Gary Payton was asked how he would defend Curry. Payton is one of just three guards to win Defensive Player of the Year. He's also been named to the All-Defensive First Time nine times.

Here's what "The Glove" will do to defend Steph:

"Steph, you had to put your body on him... It makes the other people who got the basketball, if they see Steph is really getting really, really hounded, what do they do? They go away from him because they don't want to turn the basketball over. They don't want to give it to him and they try to do things they can't do."

Payton added:

"When we used to play, we used a hedge and just trap. Once we trap the basketball and get the ball out his hand, what my job was is deny that getting the basketball. Make it hard for him to get the basketball. I'll deny him and let them four other players play."

Steph Curry was nearly unstoppable in the first quarter of Game 1. Curry set an NBA Finals record for most threes made in a quarter with six. He finished the first quarter with 21 points, but scored just 13 points for the rest of the game. The Boston Celtics really did an amazing job partially neutralizing Steph in the final three quarters.

Andrew Wiggins added 20 points for the Warriors, but Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole struggled. Meanwhile, Al Horford was on fire in his first game in the NBA Finals, finishing with 26 points. Jaylen Brown had 24 points, while Derrick White added 21 points off the bench.

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Can Steph Curry, Warriors even the NBA Finals?

Golden State Warriors vs Boston Celtics 2022 NBA Finals - Game One

Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors will look to even the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics. The Warriors welcome the Celtics back to the Chase Center for Game 2 on Sunday night. Golden State needs the win to avoid going down 0-2 heading into Boston for Games 3 and 4.

In Game 1's postgame interview, Curry seemed to be hoping to have more consistent minutes for the rest of the series. He appeared unsatisfied sitting for long stretches in the second and fourth quarters. Steph said:

"At most, we only got six games left, so make the necessary adjustments. It's about winning four games by any means necessary and 42 minutes we did enough to win the game tonight. That's not how basketball works."