Elevator Screens
Two screeners squeeze together — the doors close behind the shooter.
Elevator screens look simple — two players, two feet apart, with a shooter running between them. The mechanic is everything else: the screeners must close the gap at the exact moment the shooter clears, sealing off the chasing defender like elevator doors closing. Done right, the shooter catches with no defender within arm’s reach.
The Warriors made elevator screens famous in the 2014-2018 run by using them for Curry and Thompson dozens of times per game. The Warriors’ version added complexity — the screeners often start from a stack alignment that disguises which player will be the shooter.
Two failure modes coaches watch for: the screeners closing too early (an illegal moving screen the official will call) and the screeners closing too late (the chaser slips through). The timing only works with repetition — teams that install elevator action and run it twice a season can’t execute it under pressure.
Key principles
- Two screeners set two-to-three feet apart with a defined gap
- Shooter cuts through the gap toward the catch
- The instant the shooter clears, both screeners close the gap to seal the chaser
- Timing must be precise — early close is illegal, late close leaves the defender in pursuit