Besides the first two plays of a Thursday night showdown on the road against the Houston Rockets, Draymond Green's return to the lineup was a complete disappointment, as the Golden State Warriors forward only mustered the slots of doom, putting up five rebounds, five assists and five turnovers on a scoreless outing.
Green was hesitant and often double-thinking his natural passing instincts, which saw him miss obvious plays around the perimeter, which wound up batted or stolen by Rockets players.
Article Continues Below“I was horrible,” said Green after a 107-86 loss to Houston, according to ESPN's Nick Friedell. “I just couldn't do nothing right. A lot of stuff I saw was plays I usually make. I just didn't really have that feel tonight. But it will come. It is what it is, but my feel wasn't there at all. My sight was, I saw everything I needed to see. I just really couldn't get the ball to where I wanted it to go. Things just didn't go my way, but that's OK.”
Head coach Steve Kerr kept even-keeled despite the recent locker room incident that set the organization ablaze for the last few days, supporting his All-Star forward after a tough game.
“Draymond may not have had his best night tonight, in fact he played very poorly. But I liked his approach. He was genuine out there. He was competing. Nothing went his way, but I like where he's heading. And now the rest of the team, we've got to all lift our spirits up and get back on the saddle. But we're going through a little bit of a rough patch.”
The Warriors (12-4) have gone 2-3 in the past five games after railing eight wins in a row early in the season, but will have to find the confidence to bounce back from this loss with a back-to-back against the Dallas Mavericks and the San Antonio Spurs coming up this weekend.