Green’s night all for naught
OAKLAND >> It was Draymond Green’s kind of game.
He and Chris Paul were exchanging words and not-so-covert shoves in between him doing all the little things.
Typically when Green, whom the Warriors have long called their motor, is fired up and engaged, the Warriors end up on the better side of the score. Tuesday was an exception.
The Warriors fell to the Rockets, 95-92, in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals despite Green nearly finishing with a triple-double with 11 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr’s description of the game seemed as though it were meant for Green, whom he often says is the perfect modern-day center.
“It was trench warfare, everybody grinding it out,” Kerr said. “A lot of isolation. I guess this is the modern NBA.”
Green acknowledged that he enjoys that type of chippiness. As for discussing it? Less so.
When asked about what was going on between him and Paul, he didn’t hesitate in his response. “Nothing,” Green said. Green, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, said it’s clear what went wrong for the Warriors in the fourth quarter when they were outscored by the Rockets, 25-12.
“I think we just stopped trusting our defense at certain points in the game,” Green said. “We got to trust our defense, trust the game plan and stay with it. The times when we trusted our game plan and trusted our defense, we were fine.”
It’s been a crazy few days for Green, who has had to deal with the aftermath of Charles Barkley asking Kevin Durant after Game 3 if he’s as annoying in person as he is on TV.
But that didn’t bother him at all.
“I don’t pay any attention,” Green told The Bay Area News Group. “Not at all.”
Green was too focused on Game 4. He wasn’t even fazed by the NBA declining to rescind a technical foul he was assessed in Game 3.
“I didn’t have a reaction,” Green said. “It is what it is.
Next game, I don’t care about a tech getting rescinded.”
Green had a bit more of a reaction to Game 4, calling it the most physical game of the series.
“I think it was,” Green said. “It should be. Like I said, you got a team fighting not to go down 3-1 it should be physical. And it’ll be physical the rest of the way.”
• With 11:22 left in the second quarter, Klay Thompson sustained a left knee sprain after falling awkwardly onto the court after a layup attempt.
He was taken to the locker room and evaluated by the Warriors’ training staff before being cleared to return.
He re-entered the game with 6:06 left in the second quarter and went on to finish with 10 points on 4-for-13 shooting, including making two of his five 3-point attempts in 39 minutes.
“It’s sore but it’s early,” Thompson said. “I’m anticipating feeling much better (Wednesday).”
• The Warriors were without Andre Iguodala (left lateral leg contusion) on Tuesday.
“If it was close, he would play,” Kerr said before Game 4. “He’s injured, so he’s not playing. We’ll see what happens in a couple of days.”