The Golden State Warriors have carried their bewildering home/road dichotomy from the regular season into the playoffs. After dropping Games 1 and 2 on the road against the Sacramento Kings in their first round playoff series, they've come back to win both games at home and even the series at two games apiece. The Warriors got Draymond Green back in the lineup after serving his one game suspension and his defensive IQ was a big reason why the won Game 4. Green sagged off Harrison Barnes in the closing seconds of the game and put pressure on De'Aaron Fox to give up the ball. It worked and after the game Green explained his rationale via Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
Draymond Green on the Harrison Barnes look for the win: “We know Fox can make a shot. He won Clutch Player of the Year. What I’m not doing is giving him an isolation against anyone.” pic.twitter.com/0O2ZYLSyYw
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) April 23, 2023
“You got to make that, it is what it is,” Green said. “We know Fox can make a shot, he won Clutch Player of the Year. What I'm not doing is giving him an iso on anyone, just watching him work and live with that. We're not gonna live with that, we know that. Got to make somebody else beat you. If he hit it, great shot, he didn't. Whether he hit it or not, it's the right thing, to make someone else beat you. He didn't, it worked, great shot.”
Kings fans probably wished De'Aaron Fox took that final shot rather than Harrison Barnes but this is where Draymond Green's defensive instincts kick in. Through the first two games of the series, Green has been averaging 6.0 points per game, 6.5 rebounds, 8.0 assists and 1.5 steals with shooting splits of 36.4 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from three-point range and 75 percent from the free-throw line. He finished Game 4 with 12 points, ten rebounds and seven assists off the bench.
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