Green not thrilled about his benching in Game 4 victory
BOSTON >> Steve Kerr pulled out a few tricks to help the Warriors escape Boston with a much-needed win. Swapping Kevon Looney for Otto Porter Jr. in the starting lineup and a few rotation changes flew under the radar. But one move was controversial.
The Warriors called timeout down four points with a little more than seven minutes left in the game. Nearing crunch time. But Kerr didn't ride with all three players who have played dozens of crunch-time playoff minutes together.
He pulled Draymond Green to the bench.
“I'm definitely never thrilled coming out of the game with seven minutes to go in the fourth quarter in a must-win game,” Green said. “I'm not going to sit here and act like I was thrilled. I'm a competitor.”
It wasn't a full benching. An 11-3 Warriors run fueled by the sweet spot of Steph Curry's 43-point gem put the Warriors up three points and let Kerr spin the revolving door. With just under four minutes left, Green subbed in for Kevon Looney. Needing Looney's size on the boards, Jordan Poole and Green switched off defensive and offensive possessions four more times until the clock wound down to zero with Golden State's 107-97, series-tying win in hand.
“At the end of the day, all decisions are, you know, predicated on that being the goal,” Curry said. “And I know we've all been on the side where it doesn't go your way from the top all the way to the bottom.
It's not fun. It's not something you readily accept, but you understand the big picture, and obviously especially when it pays off. So it's more so the trust in Loon and what he's able to do than any kind of like situation with Draymond.”
Looney didn't start the game for the first time since Game 6 of the semifinals, but he was essential in combatting Boston's power on the boards. Complementing Andrew Wiggins' 16-rebound night, Looney gobbled up 11 rebounds with Golden State outscoring Boston by 21 points in his 28 minutes.
With Green's scoring issues, the Warriors can't afford too many crunch time minutes with him and Looney on the floor together. One had to sacrifice.
Green has often defined himself as a 16-game player — he's built his legacy closing playoff games with his defensive savvy, big stops and vision on offense. To see Green on the bench in the fourth quarter of a close Finals game was like seeing a fish out of water. But the move was logical given Green's struggles of late.
Even Green's mom, Mary Babers, called out Green's offensive game in a tweet.
“Please (people) stop asking me what's wrong with Dray,” she tweeted. “I don't know! Maybe this is a clone!...Where is the Draymond that helped get us here!!”
Green has been a non-factor offensively against Boston's athleticism and length in the paint. He had two points in both Game 4 and in their Game 3 loss on Wednesday. Green had a team-high eight assists on Friday, including two huge ones in his fourth-quarter minutes, including a pass to Curry beyond the arc that he drained to extend the Warriors' lead to six with 1:43 minutes remaining.
His final assist was perhaps his most important — it came on Looney's fourth quarter layup that put the Warriors' back up five points after Al Horford's 3-pointer, cutting then Boston's deficit to three points with a minute to spare.
Green wasn't his best, but his fingerprints were all over the win. He had nine rebounds and four steals. But the moment called for optimum scoring opportunities by any means necessary.
“It was late in the game, last three minutes I think. So being prepared. Staying ready,” Poole said. “Good decision by the coaches. You know, we trust the decisions that they make, so being able to have the talent to do the offense-defense thing and for it to work was huge for us.”
The Warriors outscored the Celtics 18-7 while alternating Green and Poole from the bench and back. Kerr said the offense-defense pattern was something they “generally do” when “you've got a group that's going well.”
Even if he understood the decision, Green couldn't hide his discontent.
“At the end of the day, if that's what coach decides, then you roll with it,” he said. “You know, I had to keep my head in the game and, you know, whenever I went back in, try to make some plays. That was just my mindset. You know, don't make too much of it.
I've always been of the — on the bandwagon of if you've got something and it's rolling, you stick with it. So it is what it is.”