OAKLAND, Calif. — After the fallout following his widely viewed, enormously publicized, NBA-punished Flagrant 2 Foul groin kick against the Thunder’s Steven Adams in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals, Golden State’s Draymond Green is back to himself.
For the remainder of that Game 3 and Game 4 against Oklahoma City, Green was a shell of himself, more hindrance than help. But he gradually recovered and now he is back to his two-way self. He’s defending as always. And he’s scoring from everywhere. Like in Game 2 of the Finals against the Cavs, Green nailed five 3-pointers. Consider that Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson each had four.
“You know how he’s going to impact the game consistently every night with his defense and playmaking, getting guys involved,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after the 110-77 destruction of Cleveland for 2-0 Finals lead Sunday. “The way he was shooting the ball and having the confidence and bailing us out of a couple of possessions, knocking down his threes, whether they were open or contested — the one stepback one, that’s when I kind of lost my mind watching him just impact the game on the offensive end.”
Just Draymond being Draymond. During a 28-point night.
“Rhythm shots,” said Green, admitting his second-half 3-pointer that Kerr referenced was “awful … pathetic” even by his standards. “The shots were coming my way, my teammates found me and I was able to knock a few of them down.”
And he also defended.
“He made shots. Give credit where credit is due. The guy made shots. Not only when we left him open and contested late, but he made shots in our face,” LeBron James said. “He made some big plays both offensively and defensively. We know what he does defensively for that team, so game ball to him.”
Cavs coach Tyronn Lue, despite the way the Warriors have dominated the Cavs going back to Game 4 of last year’s Finals, doesn’t think the champs have gotten into his team’s heads.
“I don’t see a mental hurdle. I just think we know we’ve got to play better. It isn’t anything mental. We’ve just got to play harder, play better and we’ll be fine,” Lue said. “We have to take care of the basketball, not turn the ball over. In transition when you have a chance to convert and get easy baskets, we have to take advantage of that, especially against a team [that’s] a great half-court defensive team. We’ve also got to make tougher plays, the 50-50 balls, being physical, and being on those guys’ bodies.”
The Warriors’ 33-point Game 2 win was the largest margin of victory in a Finals game since the Spurs stomped the Heat by 36 in 2013. The biggest blowout ever was a 42-point slaughter, 96-54, by the Bulls over the Jazz in Game 3 of the 1998 Finals. … LeBron James is the only player in NBA playoff history to be ranked in the top 10 in points (fourth, 5,406), rebounds (10th, 1,699) and assists (third, 1,304). … The Warriors’ 15 3-pointers in Game 2 were one shy of the Finals record. The Spurs had 16 in Game 3 against Miami in 2013.
