Subscribe
Follow Us
Who needs Andrew Wiggins and De'Anthony Melton, let alone Stephen Curry? The Golden State Warriors definitely do, obviously, to make good on the two-way promise they've shown through the first five games of the regular season. Yet for a second straight night against the similarly shorthanded New Orleans Pelicans, Golden State's unique blend of depth and defense paved the way for a suffocating victory.
The Warriors beat the Pelicans 104-89 on Wednesday night at Chase Center, putting forth another stellar defensive effort that also showed off this team's lengthening list of capable scorers even with Curry and Wiggins watching from the sidelines. Unlike Tuesday's game, though, Golden State didn't need to climb out of a 20-point hole before easily dispatching of New Orleans.
The Dubs led wire-to-wire this time around, picking up right where they left off from the second half not even 24 hours earlier. Maybe the biggest reason why? Draymond Green's individual defense on Zion Williamson.
New Orleans' franchise cornerstone played his best game of the young season on Tuesday, victimizing Green and any other defender that dared stay in his way en route to 31 points on 19 shots. He struggled taking care of the ball amid the Warriors' relentless activity and active arms and hands in help defense, but was otherwise simply too much for Green and company.
Let's just say that wasn't the case on Wednesday. Spurred on by Williamson giving him “hell” in their first matchup, Green was plenty motivated to provide a much stiffer personal challenge—with the help of his teammates, of course.
“Just really taking on his force,” Green said of what made the difference guarding Williamson. “I was telling him last night, man, he's gotten so much better. The way he's moving, he's finishing a lot better. He missed some chippies tonight, but it's also a team effort, you need a lot of guys shrinking. But I wanted to bounce back. Last night I told him, like, he got the best of me. Last night he gave me hell. So I just wanted to bounce back and have a good defensive performance tonight.”
Draymond Green, still ‘one of the best defenders in the world'
Article Continues Below
The Pelicans' star wrecking ball finished with 12 points on 5-of-20 from the field, all of those attempts coming from inside the paint. Williamson had only made less than 30% of his shots on four occasions before Green gave him hell right back on Wednesday, and the fewest points he'd scored in a game while shooting at least 20 times was 18. By pretty much any measure, including true shooting percentage, it was the least efficient scoring game of the 24-year-old's career.
Green's impact, no surprise, extended far beyond his smart, physical, handsy defense as Williamson's primary defender. He supplemented a season-high five blocks with 14 points, four rebounds, six assists and three triples, a relative barrage from long range that helped unlock Golden State's halfcourt offense.
Steve Kerr knows the full scope of Green's influence better than anyone. After a second straight double-digit win that had his fingerprints all over it, though, Golden State's coach couldn't help but lead with what makes Draymond Green truly special.
“He's still one of the best defenders in the world, that's for sure,” Kerr said. “The way he battled out there, but also the way he led, his energy, talking to the team during timeouts and halftime. He was fantastic.”
