Getty Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors.
The Golden State Warriors need to win every game they can at this point in the season. With how tightly-contested the Western Conference standings are, they can’t afford to lose focus at all, especially if they want a chance at making a serious run.
On Tuesday night, they took care of business against the New Orleans Pelicans despite being down big early in the game. Draymond Green provided the Warriors with a huge spark, utilizing his intensity. Head coach Steve Kerr praised Green for it after the game, crediting him for the win.
“Draymond willed us to victory tonight,” Kerr said via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel. “I mean, his intensity, his frustration early with the way we were playing. Mad at the world. Yelling at everybody – their bench, our bench, [and] me. And frankly, we all deserved it. That first half was as poor a half as we’ve played all year, and we weren’t engaged, and that’s what makes Draymond special. It’s not just the amazing basketball IQ and defense and playmaking, but it’s just his sheer will. And he was the key tonight.”
As mentioned by Kerr, Green was talking to anyone who would listen. He was talking trash to the Pelicans, trying to amp up his teammates, and even yelled at Kerr when he subbed him out of the game at one point.
Starting at the center position, Green put up some solid stats to go along with the energy he brought to the court. He finished the night with eight points, 13 rebounds, two assists, and two steals on 4-of-5 shooting from the field.
Draymond Green Welcomes Gary Payton II Back
In other news, the Warriors got some reinforcements back in their Sunday night loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Gary Payton II returned to the court, and on the latest edition of his podcast, The Draymond Green Show, Green welcomed Payton back.
“Having GP back! Number one, just to see GP back out on the floor with us was great,” Green said on the March 28 edition of his podcast. “I think with that comes rotations and figuring out the pieces. What rotations, what lineups are best together when adding GP back into the fold. That’ll take a few games to figure out. It always feels a bit better when you can figure those things out in a win. And quite frankly, like I said, we should have been doing that. But, that’s not the case. So, just get back to the drawing board and continue to figure those things out.”
Draymond Green Sounds Off on Warriors Loss
In addition, Green sounded off on the Warriors after their loss to Minnesota.
“Coming off the heels of a s—– loss last night, where we probably should’ve won that game pretty easily and it just didn’t happen that way,” Green said on the podcast. “Obviously I had a turnover late down the stretch that lead to a three, which ultimately ended up being the basket to give them the lead and eventually win them the game. I’ve just got to better with the ball in that situation and understand who it is that’s closing out to me. Kyle Anderson has very long arms, he’s great in the passing lane… In saying that, I’m not really one to make much of one play and say that’s why we lost the game because there are a ton of plays throughout the course of a game that I feel like even me personally could’ve done better to change the outcome of a game. But, in a situation like that it’s very natural to feel like ‘oh man I cost us the game with that play’ or ‘oh man someone else cost us the game with a play that may have happened at the end.’ That’s not quite the case… but, pretty rough night.”
Draymond Green is an idiot!