The Dallas Mavericks-Golden State Warriors contest was exciting, with both teams playing some of their best basketball. The game witnessed a total of 9 lead changes and 10 ties but was finally clinched by the Warriors. While Andrew Wiggins did have a big night, scoring 23 points, the two-way contributions from Draymond Green were the most crucial in keeping the Bay Area side’s postseason hopes alive.
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Draymond Green recorded one of his best performances of the 2023-2024 season. Playing for almost 31 minutes, the four-time champ stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals, and a clutch, game-winning block, per NBA.com.
The 2017 Defensive Player of the Year’s outing drew praises from analysts, enthusiasts, and also his own teammates. Chris Paul was merely one of the players to be left in awe of the Warriors leader’s production. In the postgame interview, CP3 explained how he appreciated Green for having a defensive approach, like himself, and also shed light on the small things that he did that often went unnoticed.
“Dray thinks the game defensively, like me too. He’s a great passer and all this stuff, but he does all the little things – setting screens… I appreciate playing with somebody that sees the game like I do,” Paul said.
During the dying minutes of the closely fought tie, Dray also had a huge block on Daniel Gafford that sealed the victory for Steve Kerr’s boys. Speaking about the same play, the Point God dubbed it as “one of the best plays” he’s seen in his career.
“I told Dray, ‘That might be one of the best plays I done ever seen in my career, and I’m not exaggerating, man,” Paul said. “If you just see, the heart, somebody like me who likes defense, I can appreciate. It’s well-documented, me and Dray’s relationship before I got here. It’s something to see night in and night out. He will us to this win tonight,” Paul said during the on-court postgame interview.
The block was of huge importance. Had Gafford scored the two points, the Mavs’ lead would’ve been cut down to merely 4 points. With the final score being 104-100, the block prevented the game from going to overtime or in the favor of Luka Doncic and co.
Steve Kerr also praised Draymond Green for his defensive performance
Steve Kerr was also impressed with Draymond Green’s display. Sharing his insights on the clutch block, the head coach of the Golden State Warriors explained how the same was the most important play of the night.
“That was probably the key defensive play of the game. It was just a massive play,” Kerr said.
As the Warriors are in a tough fight with the #11 Houston Rockets to finish in the play-in tournament position, Draymond Green has stepped up big time. Since being ejected in the first quarter of the 27th March contest against the Orlando Magic, the 34-year-old has switched gears and elevated his performance.
After an 8-point, 8-rebound, and 4-assist performance against the Charlotte Hornets, the multiple-time All-Star also went off for a 21-point, 11-assist, 6-rebound double-double, leading the Golden State to a win over the San Antonio Spurs, per ESPN.
With merely seven games remaining in the season, per ESPN (four of them being against teams with a better record than .500), Green will have to keep up the good work and put up several such performances to help Stephen Curry lead the team to an appearance in the 2024 playoff.
