Draymond Green’s huge Game 1 showed exactly why the Warriors are the title favorites
No player in the last 33 years has posted an ultra-rare 5x5 game (at least five points, assists, rebounds, steals, blocks) and a triple-double in any game in either the regular or postseason.
The man who has come closest is Draymond Green — he was one point away in February (who would think that the hardest stat to get in a 5X5 triple-double would be a fifth point?) and he nearly did it again Sunday afternoon in Oakland, in Game 1 of the Warriors' Western Conference quarterfinal series against the Blazers.
Green was two steals and one assist away from the vaunted 5x5 triple-double Sunday, scoring 19 points, pulling down 12 rebounds, and blocking five shots — three coming in spectacular fashion.
In the year of the triple-double — a campaign where star players' numbers seemed juiced — and on a team where there is absolutely no shortage of offensive starpower, it was Green — the Warriors' linchpin — who was the best player on the court for Golden State in their opening game of the postseason.
Let it serve as a reminder.
Green won't come anywhere close to averaging numbers like Sunday's — that was a special game — but the impact he had on the contest, both on the offensive and particularly on the defensive end, was a perfect example of just how good he — and, in turn, the Warriors — can be.
If you were somehow questioning if the 67-win Warriors were favorites to win the title — and the early goings of Sunday might have given you pause — Game 1, and Green's leading performance served as a reminder that there's not anyone close to their class right now.
The Warriors took Portland's best shot in Game 1
The Blazers and Warriors have a penchant for playing fun, up-and-down, competitive games. When you get two backcourts that explosive, great back-and-forth games are bound to happen.
And that's what we had for the first three quarters of Sunday's Game 1.
C.J. McCollum and Damian Lillard — the Blazers' dynamic backcourt duo — were spectacular.
Spec-tac-u-lar.
It was exactly what the Blazers needed to keep up with, or perhaps even beat, the Warriors.
McCollum had 27 points at halftime and 34 heading into the fourth Sunday. Lillard had 21 at halftime and scored seven more points in the third.
Heading into the fourth quarter of a game tied at 88, the Blazers' two stars had 62 of Portland's points. It was all going Portland's way.
The Warriors clamped down in the fourth quarter
While Portland was able to keep up with Golden State for three quarters, the fourth quarter belonged to the Warriors.
And specifically, it was Green's.
Green was a plus-16 in a quarter that the Warriors won by 12 — scoring 10 points, blocking three shots (including a spectacular rejection of Lillard), and pulling down three rebounds. And that doesn't even tell the full story. What didn't show up in the box score was his near-impeccable help-side defensive help, which was critical to Golden State holding the Blazers to 29 percent shooting in the final frame.
Green is going to either win or finish second in Defensive Player of the Year voting this season — the award will surely come down to him or Utah center and rim protector extraordinaire Rudy Gobert.
The voting for the award is over, but had ballots been due after Sunday's game, Green would have won in a landslide. The advanced metrics show that Green, at 6-foot-6, has nearly identical rim-protection stats to Gobert, 7-foot-1.
Often, the advanced stats don't jibe with the eye. Sunday, it seemed as if the incredible numbers didn't fully encapsulate Green's defensive impact. (Not only did he block five shots, he often guarded both Lillard and McCollum with clear success — can Gobert do that?)
In all, the Warriors needed every bit of Green's contributions Sunday.
Forgot about Dray? Green does it all in Warriors' Game 1 triumph
The Golden State Warriors pulled away from the Portland Trail Blazers to win Game 1 121-109 after Draymond Green & Co. finally doused Portland’s offensive fireworks. Green was magnificent, claiming 19 points, 12 boards, nine assists, three steals and five blocks -- a line that might actually undersell his impact Sunday afternoon.
Green attacked the defensive end with unreal vigor, especially late in the game. He blocked two dunk attempts; one block broke up a 2-on-1 and the other was the result of a dead sprint across the court. The second one, a fourth-quarter swat of an attempted Damian Lillard tomahawk, sent Lillard tumbling to the floor, his highlight upended. Although it’s too late to submit Defensive Player of the Year clips, Green did much to showcase why many consider him the sport’s best defensive player.
The Blazers have not been given much of a shot in this series, which is one reason Lillard’s (cajoled) Portland-in-six prediction made waves. To Lillard, it doesn’t matter if few think Portland is near Golden State’s level. Well, it matters, but it won’t stop the Blazers from playing with immense confidence.
Lillard and backcourt mate CJ McCollum gave the Warriors a rude early reminder that they are indeed facing a force to be reckoned with. The two combined for 48 points in the first half, the most they've ever scored together in a half. McCollum was especially impressive, as he hit shots from a variety of angles and against converging closeouts.
Meanwhile, the Warriors weren’t exactly sharp. Klay Thompson started somnambulistically, both offensively and defensively. Although Kevin Durant looked wholly healthy coming off his return to action, he lessened his aggression in the second quarter. Stephen Curry was 1-of-5 from beyond the arc in the first quarter and missed some open looks.
Yet the game was tied at the half. Perhaps, for all of Lillard’s confidence and for all of his and McCollum’s brilliance, this speaks to the gap between the teams as nothing else does. Blazers not named CJ or Damian went 3-for-16 with five turnovers in the first half.
The teams continued to exchange blows into the third quarter, when Curry awoke and Warriors center JaVale McGee changed the game. Curry’s run of drives and jumpers was perhaps expected; McGee’s galvanized third quarter was a less expected development, as many commentators throughout the season asserted that he wouldn’t see the floor come the postseason. The reality is that McGee, for all his pratfalls, changes the game when he’s on. That’s more than you can say for so many bench players.
“It started with the energy of JaVale there in that third quarter,” Green said after the game. “And though they made a run at the end to close it out, our energy transferred over. Then David [West] came in, and he was huge. He was huge on those ball screens. Damian couldn't get downhill anymore, CJ couldn't get downhill anymore, and we were able to get a grip, and then we went on a 15-2 run.”
The fourth quarter is when Golden State got its final burst of separation, when it fatally clamped down on Portland’s offense. Green had 10 points, three blocks and two steals in the quarter. In the game overall, the Blazers went 4-for-16 against Green as primary defender, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Green further explained how Golden State turned Portland’s water off: “CJ hit tough fadeaways and tough 3s over contested hands. But we knew at some point you have to make them miss. You can do all you want and say, 'Oh, man, I got a great contest, and he hit a tough shot,' but at some point, we have to make them miss.”
That’s a quote aspiring defensive superstars can take to heart. Yes, you theoretically can be content with teams taking certain kinds of contested shots. Yes, it’s a make-or-miss league, as the cliché goes, and some lucky shots can defeat good defense. But great defense, Draymond-level defense, is not so incidental to the outcome. By force of will, he chases players into shots that evoke a quarterback throwing the ball away to avoid pain. By reading the situation, he appears seemingly out of nowhere and kills the prettiest of plays.
Green’s brilliance put the Warriors up as they started the fourth quarter with their West-Thompson lineup, which allowed Durant to salt the game away with midrange jumpers over mismatches.
Make no mistake: Unless Jusuf Nurkic returns, the Blazers are in trouble. They might be confident but they’re undermanned, and they face a defensive player whose brashness is matched only by the extreme skill with which he dispatches the boldest scorers.
The man who has come closest is Draymond Green — he was one point away in February (who would think that the hardest stat to get in a 5X5 triple-double would be a fifth point?) and he nearly did it again Sunday afternoon in Oakland, in Game 1 of the Warriors' Western Conference quarterfinal series against the Blazers.
Green was two steals and one assist away from the vaunted 5x5 triple-double Sunday, scoring 19 points, pulling down 12 rebounds, and blocking five shots — three coming in spectacular fashion.
In the year of the triple-double — a campaign where star players' numbers seemed juiced — and on a team where there is absolutely no shortage of offensive starpower, it was Green — the Warriors' linchpin — who was the best player on the court for Golden State in their opening game of the postseason.
Let it serve as a reminder.
Green won't come anywhere close to averaging numbers like Sunday's — that was a special game — but the impact he had on the contest, both on the offensive and particularly on the defensive end, was a perfect example of just how good he — and, in turn, the Warriors — can be.
If you were somehow questioning if the 67-win Warriors were favorites to win the title — and the early goings of Sunday might have given you pause — Game 1, and Green's leading performance served as a reminder that there's not anyone close to their class right now.
The Warriors took Portland's best shot in Game 1
The Blazers and Warriors have a penchant for playing fun, up-and-down, competitive games. When you get two backcourts that explosive, great back-and-forth games are bound to happen.
And that's what we had for the first three quarters of Sunday's Game 1.
C.J. McCollum and Damian Lillard — the Blazers' dynamic backcourt duo — were spectacular.
Spec-tac-u-lar.
It was exactly what the Blazers needed to keep up with, or perhaps even beat, the Warriors.
McCollum had 27 points at halftime and 34 heading into the fourth Sunday. Lillard had 21 at halftime and scored seven more points in the third.
Heading into the fourth quarter of a game tied at 88, the Blazers' two stars had 62 of Portland's points. It was all going Portland's way.
The Warriors clamped down in the fourth quarter
While Portland was able to keep up with Golden State for three quarters, the fourth quarter belonged to the Warriors.
And specifically, it was Green's.
Green was a plus-16 in a quarter that the Warriors won by 12 — scoring 10 points, blocking three shots (including a spectacular rejection of Lillard), and pulling down three rebounds. And that doesn't even tell the full story. What didn't show up in the box score was his near-impeccable help-side defensive help, which was critical to Golden State holding the Blazers to 29 percent shooting in the final frame.
Green is going to either win or finish second in Defensive Player of the Year voting this season — the award will surely come down to him or Utah center and rim protector extraordinaire Rudy Gobert.
The voting for the award is over, but had ballots been due after Sunday's game, Green would have won in a landslide. The advanced metrics show that Green, at 6-foot-6, has nearly identical rim-protection stats to Gobert, 7-foot-1.
Often, the advanced stats don't jibe with the eye. Sunday, it seemed as if the incredible numbers didn't fully encapsulate Green's defensive impact. (Not only did he block five shots, he often guarded both Lillard and McCollum with clear success — can Gobert do that?)
In all, the Warriors needed every bit of Green's contributions Sunday.
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| Getty Images |
Forgot about Dray? Green does it all in Warriors' Game 1 triumph
The Golden State Warriors pulled away from the Portland Trail Blazers to win Game 1 121-109 after Draymond Green & Co. finally doused Portland’s offensive fireworks. Green was magnificent, claiming 19 points, 12 boards, nine assists, three steals and five blocks -- a line that might actually undersell his impact Sunday afternoon.
Green attacked the defensive end with unreal vigor, especially late in the game. He blocked two dunk attempts; one block broke up a 2-on-1 and the other was the result of a dead sprint across the court. The second one, a fourth-quarter swat of an attempted Damian Lillard tomahawk, sent Lillard tumbling to the floor, his highlight upended. Although it’s too late to submit Defensive Player of the Year clips, Green did much to showcase why many consider him the sport’s best defensive player.
The Blazers have not been given much of a shot in this series, which is one reason Lillard’s (cajoled) Portland-in-six prediction made waves. To Lillard, it doesn’t matter if few think Portland is near Golden State’s level. Well, it matters, but it won’t stop the Blazers from playing with immense confidence.
Lillard and backcourt mate CJ McCollum gave the Warriors a rude early reminder that they are indeed facing a force to be reckoned with. The two combined for 48 points in the first half, the most they've ever scored together in a half. McCollum was especially impressive, as he hit shots from a variety of angles and against converging closeouts.
Meanwhile, the Warriors weren’t exactly sharp. Klay Thompson started somnambulistically, both offensively and defensively. Although Kevin Durant looked wholly healthy coming off his return to action, he lessened his aggression in the second quarter. Stephen Curry was 1-of-5 from beyond the arc in the first quarter and missed some open looks.
Yet the game was tied at the half. Perhaps, for all of Lillard’s confidence and for all of his and McCollum’s brilliance, this speaks to the gap between the teams as nothing else does. Blazers not named CJ or Damian went 3-for-16 with five turnovers in the first half.
The teams continued to exchange blows into the third quarter, when Curry awoke and Warriors center JaVale McGee changed the game. Curry’s run of drives and jumpers was perhaps expected; McGee’s galvanized third quarter was a less expected development, as many commentators throughout the season asserted that he wouldn’t see the floor come the postseason. The reality is that McGee, for all his pratfalls, changes the game when he’s on. That’s more than you can say for so many bench players.
“It started with the energy of JaVale there in that third quarter,” Green said after the game. “And though they made a run at the end to close it out, our energy transferred over. Then David [West] came in, and he was huge. He was huge on those ball screens. Damian couldn't get downhill anymore, CJ couldn't get downhill anymore, and we were able to get a grip, and then we went on a 15-2 run.”
The fourth quarter is when Golden State got its final burst of separation, when it fatally clamped down on Portland’s offense. Green had 10 points, three blocks and two steals in the quarter. In the game overall, the Blazers went 4-for-16 against Green as primary defender, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Green further explained how Golden State turned Portland’s water off: “CJ hit tough fadeaways and tough 3s over contested hands. But we knew at some point you have to make them miss. You can do all you want and say, 'Oh, man, I got a great contest, and he hit a tough shot,' but at some point, we have to make them miss.”
That’s a quote aspiring defensive superstars can take to heart. Yes, you theoretically can be content with teams taking certain kinds of contested shots. Yes, it’s a make-or-miss league, as the cliché goes, and some lucky shots can defeat good defense. But great defense, Draymond-level defense, is not so incidental to the outcome. By force of will, he chases players into shots that evoke a quarterback throwing the ball away to avoid pain. By reading the situation, he appears seemingly out of nowhere and kills the prettiest of plays.
Green’s brilliance put the Warriors up as they started the fourth quarter with their West-Thompson lineup, which allowed Durant to salt the game away with midrange jumpers over mismatches.
Make no mistake: Unless Jusuf Nurkic returns, the Blazers are in trouble. They might be confident but they’re undermanned, and they face a defensive player whose brashness is matched only by the extreme skill with which he dispatches the boldest scorers.
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