Draymond Green spent the final few weeks of the regular season vociferously campaigning for himself to win the 2025 Defensive Player of the Year award. But in the end, it was Evan Mobley who won the award, with the Golden State Warriors forward finishing third in the voting (behind Mobley and Dyson Daniels). However, on Monday night, during Game 4 of the Warriors' first-round series against the Houston Rockets, Green showed why he remains one of the premier defenders in the league and perhaps why he should have won the award in the first place.

With the Warriors up by just one, 107-106, in the dying embers of the game, the Rockets gave the ball to Alperen Sengun's hands to try and get a bucket to regain the lead. Sengun had 31 points on the night and has been the team's most consistent offensive option, so giving the ball to him was perhaps their best option. But they didn't account for Green's elite one-on-one defense; Sengun tried to attack the Warriors veteran but didn't get too deep into the paint before forcing up a tough hook shot that missed — hyping Green up in the process.

After Jimmy Butler hauled in the rebound and made two free throws to push the lead to three, the Rockets tried to tie the game on a Fred VanVleet triple. But Green was everywhere, jumping up to contest the VanVleet attempt that fell short of the rim, giving the Warriors a 109-106 win. Following the buzzer, Green was animated in celebrating his excellent defense to end the game, reminding the Rockets who's boss on that end of the floor.

Green has been the backbone of the Warriors' defense for years, and he probably should have more than one DPOY award in his trophy cabinet by now.

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Draymond Green battles foul trouble, comes up with Warriors' biggest defensive stop

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) prepares for the start of game two of the first round for the 2024 NBA Playoffs against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center.
Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Draymond Green found himself involved in the game's extracurriculars yet again; he was whistled for a technical foul while trying to get Stephen Curry away from Dillon Brooks, and then he was called for a flagrant foul penalty one for an inadvertent kick to Tari Eason's head while fighting for the loose ball. And all night long, he was hounded by foul trouble; in the third, he already had five fouls.

But the Warriors veteran has been in this position before, and he knows when the moment requires him to be as disciplined as he can be. And perhaps that is a lesson for these Rockets to learn: never mess with Green.