Getty Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors.
The Golden State Warriors have struggled to find any kind of consistency as of late. They’ve lost five of their last eight games and, in that span, have failed to win two contests in a row. They sit at 23-23 on the season, which places them in sixth place in the Western Conference standings.
One of their most recent losses came at the hands of the Boston Celtics, who they beat in last year’s NBA Finals. Celtics fans have developed a hatred for Draymond Green, and after their most recent face-off, former Boston forward Evan Turner made his stance on the Warriors star clear.
“Draymond is a hall of famer and a dog,” Turner stated. He quote-tweeted an image of him hanging out with Celtics fans outside of TD Garden on the night of the game, which he attended. They were holding a sign that said some not-so-nice things about Green.
The sign read, “IF GS DIDN’T DRAFT DRAYMOND. WELCOME TO MCDONALD’S MAY I TAKE YOUR ORDER?” It included an image of Green wearing a McDonald’s hat, implying that if he weren’t drafted by Golden State, he would have been out of the NBA.
Green actually played fairly well against the Celtics, despite his normal small contribution in the scoring column. The Warriors star finished the night with 11 points, 13 rebounds, and nine assists on 3-of-5 shooting from the field and 1-of-2 shooting from behind the three-point line.
Meanwhile, each other member of the Warriors’ starting lineup – Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, and Jordan Poole – put up 20 or more points against the Celtics. However, it still wasn’t enough to fend off Boston’s comeback at the end of the game.
Marcus Smart Sounds Off on Warriors After Loss
Their loss to the Celtics was a tough pill to swallow, as the Warriors maintained control of the game for the majority of the contest. Yet, in the end, they fell short. After the game, Celtics point guard Marcus Smart spoke about the contest, noting the importance of facing off against the reigning champs.
“I mean, you’re playing against the defending champs. It’s one game, but that game’s always gonna mean a lot,” Smart said via CLNS Media. “Especially when we were right there last year, and it could have been us. It’s always gonna mean a lot. Yes, it’s one game, but it was a game that we needed to win for a multitude of reasons. And one, it’s just for us. We needed to go up against a really good team. A hard team that’s going to challenge us on both ends of the floor, and we need to work on some things. So it was a good win overall.”
Draymond Green Takes Blame for Warriors Struggles
As for Golden State’s struggles so far this season, Green took the blame for them on a recent edition of his podcast, The Draymond Green Show.
“Our struggles this hear have not been because we aren’t flipping the switch,” Green said. “I think a lot of our shortcomings this year is my fault… because I have not been the leader that I am and that I need to be for this team. And the reason that I have not been that leader has also been my fault. I think we all know what happened with your young [Michigan] Wolverine brother, JP [Jordan Poole[. So for me, I’ve kind of had to walk a fine line of not really being Draymond, and when I’m not really being myself, that’s not the best thing for this team. So, where we’ve struggled is accountability. Accountability on the defensive end, accountability on the v end. You know the accountability that it takes to have a winning team. That’s my role on this team and I’ve fell short in that area. That’s something that I have to be better at, that I have to get back to. But, when I look at our struggles… it’s because guys haven’t been, I being the No. 1 culprit, who they need to be fulfilling their roles on this team.”