New ‘mind-set’ brings sweet retribution
On Saturday, sporting tans from their vacations, talking about John Travolta arriving in dreams with fashion instructions and playing with emotion and purpose, the Warriors accomplished a couple of their post-All-Star-break goals.
For the first time this season, the Warriors beat the Thunder. They crushed Oklahoma City 11280, exacting retribution on a team that had thrashed them in both of the previous meetings this season. And with the win, the Warriors edged back ahead of Houston in the win column.
They played excellent defense. They engaged in unselfish offense with 36 assists. They didn’t give the ball away like they had in the previous two meetings with Oklahoma City.
“We came in with the mind-set to get this game,” said Nick Young, who scored 16 points off the bench and attributed his output to his outfit. He claimed he was visited in
his sleep by Travolta, who told him to wear a Dance Fever costume.
It was an emotional game, with a heightened atmosphere and some tangles and scuffles. Which means it was Draymond Green’s kind of game.
“I’m an emotional guy,” Green said. “I love this game of basketball, I play with passion and I’ll continue to play with passion.”
He did Saturday. And was called for another technical foul, his 15th of the season.
Which means the Warriors will have their annual concerns about Green’s technical foul count down the stretch. He’ll be walking a tightrope for the next 22 games. And the Warriors are going to be walking it right along with him.
If — when? — Green gets his 16th technical foul, he will be suspended for one game. But it’s not like his slate gets wiped clean and he starts over fresh. No, after a player hits that magical 16-technical limit, with every two additional technical fouls he receives another onegame suspension. A new technical count starts in the playoffs. A one-game suspension might be a nice rest for Green. Anymore and it starts to seriously threaten the Warriors’ pursuit of the No. 1 seed.
“It doesn’t concern me at all,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “I want Draymond playing the way he played tonight. He’s an emotional player. He plays with passion. When he’s yelling and screaming, we’re at our best. If he gets a T, he gets a T.”
It is true that when Green is clenching his fists and roaring with fire the Warriors are at their best.
Fired Up Draymond is the best kind of Draymond. He gets the crowd going, his teammates going, frustrates the opposition. But too often Fired Up Draymond borders on out-of-control Draymond.
And Fired Up Draymond is also a target. Not only for the officials but for other players who seem to be devising ways to get Green T’d up.
“Probably,” he said when asked if players are trying to bait him. “I don’t pay anyone that much attention. There are too many talented guys to be worried about what guys are going to try to get you a tech.”
Green was called for his 15th technical foul late in the first half. He had tried to block a shot, got called for a foul, and then Thunder guard Russell Westbrook came running in to let the officials know that Green was super-duper guilty of even more. Sure enough, Green was called for a technical foul.
“I didn’t think he did anything,” Kerr said. “From my angle he was looking in the stands. But the guy was on the ground.”
Green was protesting, even though his block attempt was clearly a foul. He can’t help himself. But other players might be able to yell with emotion and not be so harshly penalized. Not Green.
“No need to call a tech,” he said.
He may get it rescinded. That occasionally happens. But does it happen for Green?
When Green got called for another foul trying to block Carmelo Anthony in the third quarter, he turned away from the action on the floor and the officials to scream in frustration. But Anthony went after him, looking like he was trying to deliberately draw Green into another technical.
The emotion seemed to spark the Warriors, which went on a 21-1 run to blow the game open.
The emotions on display made an already entertaining game even more so. The Thunder remain in position to be a potential second-round opponent for the Warriors, currently sitting fifth in the Western Conference standings.
It would be an emotional, entertaining and difficult matchup. And one that would put Green squarely in the spotlight: He’s been called for four technical fouls in the three games against the Thunder.
They’re Fired Up Draymond kind of games. Fun but dangerous.