Kurtenbach

But that's only possible because of Green's overmy-dead-body play.

His performance in Sunday's win over the Spurs was vintage. He filled the box score, but it was all the things that don't show up in a box score that won the game for the Warriors.

After all, he won the game with a box out against a player a foot taller than him.

Against a young, inexperienced, but unquestionably talented Spurs team, Green won with toughness, determination, and smarts. There's no doubt San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich will use Green's game as a case study in his lessons for how to win games in the NBA.

Green anchored the Warriors on both sides of the court. His elite defense turned into quality offense for the Dubs again and again. And when he wasn't able to create momentum that way — in the moments of the game where San Antonio's talent (specifically Victor Wembayama's) was taking over, he found a way to manufacture turning points that favored the Warriors.

SportsCenter didn't show the highlight of Green boxing out Wembayama

— all 7-foot-4 of him — as the Warriors missed a 3-point shot while up 3 points with less than 10 seconds remaining. But by boxing out the soon-to-be Rookie of the Year and forcing the Frenchman (Frenchkid?) to go over his back with resolved, fundamental play, Green won the game.

Green controlled the entire game, but he saved his best for last. He had two clutch buckets in the final 183 seconds and then won the game with the defensive highlight of the season — a rejection at the rim of Dallas big man Daniel Gafford.

Green even stymied Dallas' final play in the fourpoint Warriors win, pinning Kyrie Irving in the corner as the final seconds ticked away, leaving the Mavs guard to hit the side of the backboard on the final shot of the game.

Over the last five games (Green has played four, thanks to his first-quarter ejection in Orlando), the Warriors have the second-best defensive rating in the NBA. Elite competition? Hardly. But the Warriors aren't in a position to nitpick.

And no matter what the circumstances of Tuesday's game were — the game was originally scheduled to be in Dallas — the fact is that Green and the Warriors took on arguably the hottest team in the NBA,

an offensive juggernaut in Dallas, and held them to 100 points.

“This team [Dallas] is playing at a really high level,” Warriors coach

Steve Kerr said. “That's a great team, regardless of fatigue... They're still really hard to guard, and we held them to 100 points. That's a good sign that what we did on the road was not flukeish.”

It's not a fluke because the defensive performances were coordinated by Green, who has 10 steals over the last two games.

Credit to Andrew Wiggins, Trayce Jackson Davis, Klay Thompson, and the more lenient spring whistle but with Green in the middle of it all, the Warriors' defense has looked formidable as of late.

The Warriors are not a team with the kind of offense, or offensive firepower to win without that level of defense. Especially with Curry looking like he desperately needs a few days off.

These are the kind of performances that make Green the “heart and soul” of the Warriors.

Green is playing at an exceptionally high level— a level that you would have fairly thought was behind him over the last two seasons.

But if it isn't, it'll be hard to bet against the Dubs.