Draymond Green shakes off injury, turns up defense and smothers Jazz

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OAKLAND -- Stephen Curry barely glanced at Draymond Green’s stat sheet before putting it out of mind and instead taking a long look at the game.

That’s usually the best way to measure Green. He occasionally may put up a few fancy numbers on offense, but so much of his best work is on defense and some of it requires a microscope -- or a video device with the ability to rewind repeatedly.

The Utah Jazz rediscovered that Tuesday night at Oracle Arena. They had torched the Warriors for 40 points in the third quarter, taking a three-point lead into the fourth. After bumping the lead to seven with 9:51 to play, Green went into a kind of defensive frenzy that swung the game toward the Warriors.

This 115-108 victory had a lot significant points, and nearly all of them involved Green’s incredible defensive presence.

“We’ve had an up and down defensive year, but when he’s locked and dialed in and his energy is there, you see how much of a disruptor he is out there on the floor,” Curry said. “It’s kind of contagious.

“This was kind of that Draymond-esque game where his stat line is what it is, but his impact on the game, if you’re actually watching, he’s everywhere, making winning plays all over the court.”

Green’s stat line shows six points (3-of-7 shooting from the field, 0-of-4 from deep), seven rebounds, six assists, two blocks and two steals. He was plus-1 over 34 total minutes.

He was a combined plus-10 in the first and fourth quarters, with the Warriors setting a wicked early tone and then closing it behind relentless defensive pressure.

“Obviously, teams make a run; they had 40 points in the third,” Kevin Durant said of the Jazz. “But the first and fourth, our defense was phenomenal.”

Though Green was the catalyst, the entire team, as Curry indicated, got involved. Durant was smothering 3-point specialist Joe Ingles, who got off only two shots and scored five points. Klay Thompson, despite spraining his left ring finger in the first quarter, did his usual lockup job on Utah star Donovan Mitchell, who jacked up 29 shots (missing 19) for his 25 points.

During the decisive fourth-quarter stretch of the game, which lasted roughly three minutes, Green was a one-man pack of wolves, forcing turnovers, blocking a shot, living inside the jersey of any one of the five Jazz players, depending on the moment.

“We were down (seven) points,” Green said. “You’re not going to get that all back offensively. You’ve got to get some stops.”

The Warriors went on a 13-2 run, during which Utah made one of six shots and committed a turnover. Green had done his part.

“Just what he always does,” coach Steve Kerr said. “He guards everybody on the floor, gets out to shooters and also protects the rim. He’s got a tough job because he has to guard so many people.

“In the modern NBA, everybody is shooting 3s and penetrating, so it’s hard to guard these days. You have to have somebody like Draymond to anchor your defense.”

Green’s intensity is all the more remarkable considering he was listed as questionable to play because of a right knee contusion. Not until he warmed up an hour before tipoff was he given clearance.

Knowing Green, he probably demanded to play. This game was on national TV. Jazz center Rudy Gobert, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, is something of a rival. Each keeps his eye on the other and after Green ridiculed Gobert for bursting into tears when he wasn’t selected to play in the All-Star game, emotion was a certainty.

[RELATED: Draymond not cool with Gobert crying for several reasons]

There were no Green-Gobert fireworks, other than Green turning up his defense and leading his team to a comeback victory.

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