Draymond Green and the Golden State Warriors entered their contest against the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night knowing that Damian Lillard was arguably the hottest player in the entire league at the moment. After scoring 71 points against the Houston Rockets in his most recent contest, Lillard scored 15 points in the first quarter against Golden State, and seemed to be on his way to torching yet another team during his recent hot streak.

Instead, the Warriors silenced Lillard from there on out, holding him to just 10 points over the remaining three quarters. And after trailing by 23 points late in the second quarter, Golden State dominated in the second half, and ended up running away with a lopsided 123-105 win. After the game, Green explained how the Warriors slowed down Lillard, crediting the coaching staff for devising a solid gameplan.

“I know this coaching staff. I know when they put specific game plans together, it works. I’ve seen it work year after year, playoff run after playoff run. When they lock in and put a specific game plan together, we want to guard guys this way, we want to make this guy score and not let this guy, when they do that, it works.” – Draymond Green, The Athletic

Sure enough, the Warriors devised a playoff-like scheme to slow down Lillard, and it played a huge role in fueling the team's comeback. As Golden State looks to be getting stronger, Portland has become increasingly reliant on Lillard, and with him getting slowed down in this game, they didn't stand a chance. It will be interesting to see if the Warriors can keep up this defensive intensity as they look to build on their recent three-game win streak.