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Draymond Green made his return from injury on Monday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves after missing 11 straight games and 14 of the last 16 with a nagging toe injury. The Golden State Warriors forward had a tough time adjusting to the run-and-gun pace of this team, one that fortunately resulted in a highlight-reel dime to Klay Thompson.
In the closing seconds of the quarter, Stephen Curry received a long outlet pass to the half-court line with 4.4 seconds left in the second quarter, only to take one dribble and lob it Green's way, who contorted his body in mid-air and fired a pass toward an open Thompson on the wing, who nailed a late-contested 3 to extend a small lead going into the break:
.@KlayThompson hits it #BeforeTheLight ‼️
📺 @NBCSAuthentic pic.twitter.com/VhztPbib5z
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) December 11, 2018
Green admitted his brilliance to find the open man wasn't deliberate, but rather a sporadic reaction to salvaging a play:
“Realistically, I was gassed [on the play],” Green said after the game, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. “I had no energy to go for the layup and I saw Klay open, so I just passed it. Steph threw me a lob. There was no way I was [finishing] the lob.”
Looking back at the tape — despite being in the vicinity of the pass, Green wasn't remotely prepared to catch it, only elevating a few inches off the ground before using his momentum to dart the pass the other way, as Thompson slid to the left to catch it cleanly.
Green's admission doesn't make the pass any less spectacular, given how Thompson was directly behind him and Green didn't have the time to find him while airborne.
