Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr was especially complimentary of his defensive ace Draymond Green after Sunday afternoon's 121-109 Game 1 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Green had an inspired night, racking up 19 points, 12 rebounds, nine assists, five blocks and three steals during his 37 minutes of floor action.
“Draymond was amazing,” Kerr told Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. “He made some tremendous defensive plays. He made threes. He rebounded the ball. He had nine assists.
“I mean, he played a game that I’m not sure anybody else in the league is capable of, honestly. Who else can do what Draymond just did tonight? He’s so unique and so important to us… He was phenomenal.”
The often-verbal power forward also managed to engage in some back-and-forth trash talk with two of the Blazers' best gunners — C.J. McCollum and Damian Lillard, who dropped a combined 75 points in a scintillating Game 1 performance.
Green's inspired defense produced two of the best blocks of his NBA season — stuffing Noah Vonleh in a two-on-one fast break and then a weak side block on an airborne Lillard who had his dunk aspirations erased emphatically.
“I mean, when you block it at the rim, it’s a little different because that’s one of those plays where you’re within a half inch to a centimeter of being dunked on,” Green said. “So when you actually come up with the block, you know, it’s a bit more excitement.
“At the rim it’s mano-a-mano, man against man. Who is going to win the battle? It’s just a different type of emotion.”
Only a 31 percent shooter from beyond the arc throughout the regular season, the Michigan State product also shot a sharp 3-of-4 from deep, helping Golden State to a 40.7 percent night from long range.
The Warriors will need timely performances like this one throughout their long quest to get back to the NBA Finals.
Green has been known to have the propensity to show up in enormous ways when the big stage is laid out — if he can channel his emotions as well as he did in Game 1, Golden State will have a priceless talisman in their nightly arsenal.
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