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Outspoken Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green fired the first warning shot after his team and rival Los Angeles Lakers were stuck in the play-in tournament following the Phoenix Suns‘ 124-108 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, April 10.
“We’ve beaten the Lakers the last couple of times,” Green said on Wednesday’s “The Draymond Green Show” episode. “The Lakers are always a tough matchup, having [Anthony Davis] on the court always makes a difference. I am very confident if we played them in a play-in situation that we could win — that we will win.”
Green’s confidence is backed up by the Warriors’ 3-1 record against the Lakers this season. They have won their last three meetings by an average of 13 points.
The only Lakers’ win came during their first meeting in a 145-144 overtime squeaker.
Suffice it to say, the Warriors have the Lakers’ numbers and the season tie-breaker.
“In saying that, anytime you’re playing against AD and Bron in a one-game situation, it’s tough,” Green continued. “They’re always more than capable of putting a great night together, and it’s more likely in a one-game situation that they’re going to put a great night together than a bad night. So it’s always tough.”
Warriors’ Strength Is Lakers’ Weakness
Green being wary of the Lakers in coming up big when the stakes are high is warranted. They can never count out a LeBron James-led team.
The Lakers have shown they are capable of rising to the challenge as they did in their In-Season tournament title run. But they have also been vulnerable against great 3-point shooting teams.
The Lakers are allowing 14.3 3-pointers per game, ranked 28th in the league. The Warriors are averaging 14.8 3-pointers per game, the 2nd-most in the league.
“Nonetheless, that is where we are and I have total confidence that we can take advantage of some things that they do and win the game if that is the case,” Green said.
In their last win against the Lakers, Green sank 5 of 7 3-pointers as he made them pay for sagging off of him.
“It was our game plan for those guys that made a three tonight to let them shoot and they did so just we can’t do anything about it,” Lakers forward Rui Hachimura revealed to reporters after the game.
The Warriors connected on 26 of 41 3-pointers, the most the Lakers have ever allowed in their franchise history.
Play-In Scenarios
If the regular season ended today, the Warriors would play a win-or-go-home game on the road in Los Angeles. But the Warriors can still surpass the Lakers and host the win-or-go-home play-in matchup if they sweep their remaining three games.
The Warriors also have the chance to climb to No. 8 and get two cracks at advancing to the playoffs if they sweep their last 3 games and the Sacramento Kings and the Lakers do not reach 47 wins.
The Kings hold the tie-breaker over them and the Lakers in the event of a three-way tie.
Among the three teams, the Warriors have the easiest remaining schedule, per Tankathon.
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