Getty Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors.
Tuesday’s win was an exciting one for the Golden State Warriors. They battled back from being down 23 points to the Portland Trailblazers after a monster third quarter performance. The Warriors outscored the Blazers 39-17 after the halftime break and went on to coast to victory.
Star forward Draymond Green had a strong message for his team after the comeback win. Green told reporters that “it’s about time” the Dubs turned the corner.
“What you figure out is, can the team withstand adversity?” Green said. “Quite frankly, this team has not throughout the season. You look at where we are and you say we’ve done a pretty good job of withstanding it, but there’s times where adversities have hit and we haven’t responded well to it. That’s growth, right? That’s the growth you want to see…That’s where you want to be. It’s Game 62, so it’s about time that you start turning that corner.”
Chauncey Billups Felt Warriors Run Coming, Warned Blazers at Half
Like Green, Trailblazers head coach Chauncey Billups, answered question after the February 28 matchup.
He explained that he felt Golden State’s comeback brewing and warned his players at halftime.
“We knew that they were going to make runs throughout the game,” Billups told reporters. “We had a great start, a great first half. I was talking at halftime, I said, ‘you know they’re going to make a run, this is what they do. Third quarters, this is what they do. Don’t overreact to it. Everyone stay calm, stay poised.’ We didn’t do a good job of that. I thought we lost trust in passing the ball. We passed it really well in the first half. Even when they went to their box and one, we still stayed spaced. We got the ball to the middle and we just passed it around. Guys hit shots, guys made shots and we just stayed aggressive. We just didn’t do that in the second half, particularly in the third quarter. I don’t think we shot good shots and we lost trust in the pass and that hurt us.”
Billups then explained that there’s less room for error when visiting Chase Center because of how well the Dubs play at home.
“In this building you can’t shoot quick, poor shots. They get out and go, they score quickly on you, you can’t turn it over and you can’t take bad shots.”
Warriors’ Klay Thompson Issues League-Wide Warning
Klay Thompson was pumped after Golden State’s hard-fought win on Tuesday. Thompson was feeling so good that he even issued a warning to the rest of the NBA, claiming no one wants to see the Dubs in the playoffs.
“With 20 games left, it’s such a golden opportunity for us to increase our seeding,” he said via NBC Sports Bay Area. “Just getting a great rhythm and these role guys are getting such a great experience right now, it’s going to pay off huge come playoff time. And I promise you this, when we’re healthy, no one wants to see us in the postseason. I promise you that. I mean, we expect to win a championship. While we’re here, everything else is falling short. And that’s a special, privileged position to be in. Not many franchises can wholeheartedly say that.”
“I promise you this … when we’re healthy, no one wants to see us in the postseason.” – Klay