NBA Finals 2022 – Draymond Green returns, setting the tone for Golden State Warriors 2nd game victory
SAN FRANCISCO – Draymond Green Faced with a bone-chilling fear of not going two games down in the NBA Finals by arriving for Sunday’s Game 2 that was determined to be nasty as hell in the long run. During the 48 minutes of the competition, he argued with officials – and almost every Boston Celtics player – and threw his body around the field with an uncontrollable rage.
Put it this way: The man made a well-deserved technical foul midway through the first half in a play where the call went his way. Yes, Green sets the tone for Golden Empire Warriors‘ 107-88 wins opened the series at Chase Center, and that tune is a roar.
green promise after game 1 that things will be different. He said the Celtics needed to “feel” him more, and he went out and opened up to a sensory experience comparable to standing under a waterfall. Jaylen Brown was his primary defensive duty, and Brown hit a 5 to 17 shot on the field, but that was just the beginning. There are countless properties where Green, perhaps the smartest defender in league history, has ended up defending three or four different Celtics. He seemed to be everywhere he needed to be.
When asked when he learned the Warriors would be getting the ultra-spicy green version for Game 2, Stephen the curry said, “About five minutes after game 1.”
Green has been passionately involved in the game so he will most likely be kicked out of the game. After the technical foul early in the game, nothing changed. He continued to talk nonstop to anyone who would listen and many who would not want to but not be given a choice. He continued to keep all sorts of entanglements with the Celtics players – there are many – just a second or two longer than recommended. There was a match against Brown that prompted the umpires to put on headphones and take a closer look to see if Green’s night could be over. Not, for reasons the Celtics don’t understand, but that Green shows no interest.
“For me to sit back and say, ‘Oh, I’m going to push it to this edge and try to back off’, that doesn’t work,” Green said. “I have to be myself. So technology first – that’s it. It’s not going to stop me from being aggressive or doing what I do on the basketball court. Just live with the results.”
And he seemed to know exactly where the line lay, possibly because – as the Celtics would argue – he was the one who drew it.
At some point in the third quarter, Smart Marcus – Boston’s Draymond Lite – spoke to referee Zach Zarba about an issue unrelated to Green; but there’s Green, boobs with both. Green won’t let anything go, not on this night, and he remains steadfast in his determination to keep the water boiling.
Green is nothing if inactive. When Jordan Poole technical foul for tripping White Derrick – a call was quickly aborted – Green leaned against the top scorer’s table and watched officials watch the replay while providing referee Tony Brothers with a running commentary. Green is the Warriors’ attacking defender, obligated to handle any situation that comes his way.
“We knew we had to keep the gas on and not give up,” Green said. “We did that.”
Green’s stats were pedestrian – nine points, five rebounds, seven assists – but he brooded over the scene all night. He hunts and sinks Brown into submission. He’s stripping Al Horford of the ball in the first inning when driving into the lane so forcefully, it seemed to destroy Horford’s morale.
“Some of those things don’t always show up in the stats,” says Curry. “But you feel his presence, and the other team feels his presence and intensity, and that’s contagious to all of us.”
Describing Horford as passive would be a compliment. After his incredible 26-point performance in Game 1 – on the 9/12 shot, including 6 of 8 out of 3 – he failed to make a single shot in the first half and only hit one. shot, a push midway through the third quarter. His game was symbolic of the Celtics’ poor performance. Horford took the corner after a sharp counter-attack found him just below the basket. He’s a step or three behind on defense, as Warriors eagerly deliver him in roll and roll situations. In general, Horford walked around the yard as if he had just spent a night at the airport.
Horford understandably dismissed the notion that Green’s antics may have penetrated his psyche and that of his teammates: “It doesn’t matter. I mean, he’ll do what he does. We don’t worry about him.”
Green offered to take it.
“I think people were playing with more force,” Green said. “It’s not just me. It’s already widespread. If I just use my forces and no one else does, it doesn’t work.”
Green sat in the interview room after Game 1 and looked at the Celtics’ shooting stats. Horford, White, and Smart all come up with games that Green clearly doesn’t see as sustainable. Green repeatedly waved the stat sheet and shook his head. He can live with it, and it won’t happen again. He will see that.
“It’s my job,” Green said after his prediction came true in Game 2. “Just like Steph Curry sets the tone in the attacking part of the ball, my job is to set the tone. rhythm in the defensive part of the ball.
“I have to keep doing that in this series. It’s only going to get harder. I’ve got to raise it up a few other aspects.”
It’s hard to tell if it’s a promise, a threat, or an absolute impossibility. In the end, it’s the Celtics’ right to decide. Starting with less than five minutes left in the third inning, in a period that has seen the Celtics go from a six-point drop to 29, Boston looks content to go home with a draw. Coach Ime Udoka cleared the bench when the match had 10 minutes left.
The Celtics are poised to leave San Francisco – and for now, Draymond Green – to stay.
