Getty Kevin Durant and Draymond Green celebrate their gold medal win over France.
After a disappointing Game 1 loss to the Boston Celtics, the Golden State Warriors were able to tie the NBA Finals up in Game 2 after a 107-88 win on June 5. Warriors star Stephen Curry has looked like the runaway favorite to secure the NBA Finals MVP that has eluded him in his five previous trips. Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant won two of those Finals MVPs over Curry during his three seasons in Golden State. But Warriors Forward Draymond Green says that even though Durant did win those Finals MVPs over Curry, Steph was still the focal point of Golden State’s offense during those championship runs.
“I think our offense is always a lot of Steph. It all starts with Steph,” Green said in his postgame press conference following the Warriors’ Game 2 win over the Celtics per “Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson of Bally Sports. “When KD was here, our offense still started with Steph. That’s the way it’s going to be.”
“When KD was here, our offense still started with Steph. That’s the way it’s always going to be.”
Dray on Steph being the focal point of the Warriors offense 👀
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Green: Curry Got Double-Teamed Seven Times More Than Durant
This marks the second time in the last week that Green has had some interesting comparisons between Curry and Durant. During the May 31 episode of his podcast “The Draymond Green Show”, Green said that one of the reasons that Curry doesn’t have a Finals MVP is because his numbers go down due to the amount of double-teams he sees. And that KD didn’t see nearly as many double teams as Curry.
“Kevin Durant was incredible in those Finals runs. Steph Curry got double-teamed probably seven times the amount that KD did in a given series. So, when you watch those games, and you say, ‘Ah, [Curry’s] numbers could be a little down,’ he’s facing a double team,” Green said to NBA analyst Colin Cowherd during a recent taping of the “Draymond Green Show”.
“The impact he [Steph Curry] has on a game, if you don’t understand basketball, you’re going to say he needs a Finals MVP to validate who he is.”
“They need those shiny objects for them to be able to analyze what’s going on… Steph Curry got double teamed 7X the amount KD did…the impact he has on a game, if you don’t understand basketball, you’re going to say he needs a FMVP to validate who he is.” – Dray on Steph/FMVP
Jaylen Brown Sounds off on Dust-Up With Draymond Green
During game two Green got into an altercation with Celtics star Jaylen Brown where the two had to be separated. Draymond is a noted irritant on the defensive end and has been for his entire career. Now three wins away from a championship, Brown says he has learned to expect Draymond’s antics.
“On that situation, Draymond fouled me on a three and put his legs on my head or whatever. I tried to get up. But that’s what they’re going to do. That’s what he’s going to do. He’s going to try to muck the game up, try to raise the level of intensity,” Brown said after the Celtics’ Game 2 loss per NBC Sports.
“He’ll do whatever it takes to win. He’ll pull you, he’ll grab you and try to muck the game up”
Jaylen Brown on Draymond Green in Game 2
“I feel like that was an illegal play. I feel like they could have called it, but they let it go in terms of a technical either way. But I don’t know what I was supposed to do there. Somebody got their legs on the top of your head and then he tried to pull my pants down. I don’t know what that was about. That’s what Draymond Green does. He’ll do whatever it takes to win. He’ll pull you; he’ll grab you; he’ll try to muck the game up because that’s what he does for their team. It’s nothing to be surprised about.”
With both teams now just three wins from a championship, the intensity of this NBA Finals series between the Celtics and Warriors will only pick up. It will be interesting to see what happens as this series shifts to Boston for Game 3.
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Warriors Draymond Green Ignites Feud With Kevin Durant After NBA Finals Win