Green flirts with danger, sets defensive tone for Warriors
SAN FRANCISCO >> Draymond Green often finds he's living on the edge of ejection. Unapologetically so.
The Celtics have taken notice, and they spoke out about it after the Warriors' blowout win in Game 2 on Sunday.
Green was at his peak intensity from the opening tip, literally. He smothered Al Horford once he took the ball from Marcus Smart, grabbing the ball to force a jump ball. Boston took possession and Smart threw the ball out of bounds for the first of the Celtics' 19 turnovers.
That intensity inspired his teammates and fueled an outstanding defensive performance in the Warriors' 107-88 win.
But it also raised eyebrows on the Boston bench, where many players thought Green's actions might have warranted a second technical foul.
Green earned a technical late in the first quarter of the Warriors' Game 2 win after a scuffle with Grant Williams, prompted when the pair got entangled and Williams was called for a personal foul. He could have received a second one and an automatic ejection minutes later on a dust-up with Jaylen Brown after Green fouled him on a 3-point attempt.
Officials and players had to separate the two. But no technical fouls were issued.
“No, I was not surprised there was a double technical not called,” Celtics coach Ime Udoka said. “Not surprised at all. Due to the circumstances.”
Brown said Green “tried to pull my pants down” during the scuffle,
and wondered why he wasn't issued another technical.
“I feel like that was an illegal play,” Brown said. “I feel like they could have called it, but they let it go.”
Green has often flirted with ejection. He has four technical fouls in the playoffs, and three more will earn him an automatic suspension. But not once has he earned a second and subsequent ejection in these playoffs, though Green is often caught up in moments that may justify such a call.
Green says he pays no mind to the line he might cross.
“So with the first tech, it is what it is,” Green said. “That's not going to stop me from being aggressive or doing what I do on the basketball court. Just got to live with the results.”
Green already has a Flagrant 2 foul charged against him from the semifinals against Memphis, and he said then that living in the suspension danger zone would never change his style of play. When he's on, he's all in. And Green was in his zone on Sunday.
The stat sheet may not stand out — he had 9 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, a block, a steal and only one turnover. But his fingerprints were all over an aggressive Warriors defense that held Boston's Game 1 heroes such as Horford, Derrick White and Smart to a combined 2 for 7 from 3-point range (Horford didn't shoot a single 3-pointer and Smart went 0-for-3).
Green extinguished Brown's scorching start — he was 4 for 9 with three 3-pointers in the first quarter — and set the tone for a high-intensity defensive effort that answered calls for concern over the Warriors' fourth-quarter collapse and poor perimeter defense in the Game 1 loss.
Steph Curry said he could tell “five minutes after Game 1” that Green would be back for Sunday's game with a vengeance.
“I think we talk about it, some of that stuff doesn't necessarily or doesn't always show up in the stat sheet in terms of points, rebounds, assists, just that wow factor,” Curry said. “But you feel him in his presence and the other team feels his presence and his intensity, and that is contagious for all of us.”
Green said he took personal responsibility for sending a message to his team with his defensive fire, even if it pushes him to the very edge.
“Guys follow me on that side of the ball. If I'm not sending a message, who is sending that message?” he said.
“I am not going to just come and sit in front of y'all and hold myself accountable and not back it up. You got to be about what you talk about, and I take pride in that.”