Draymond Green reminded the world of his invaluable greatness in Game 5 of the Warriors' first-round NBA playoff series against the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday at Golden 1 Center.
While his defensive impact is no surprise, his aggressiveness offensively Wednesday night made all the difference in Golden State’s 123-116 win to take a 3-2 best-of-seven series lead.
“I give Draymond Green a lot of credit,” former NBA player and current analyst Jay Williams said on ESPN’s “First Take” on Thursday morning. “A masterclass last night, not only defensively, but his ability to knock down shots and make plays. It’s a full complete team.”
Green’s offensive outburst led to a season-high 21 points on an efficient 8-of-10 shooting, along with seven assists, four rebounds, four steals and one block in the pivotal win. He did all that coming off the bench for the second game in a row after being suspended for Game 3 for stomping on Kings center Domantas Sabonis' chest in Game 2.
His efforts earned him the “Draymond Nowitzki” moniker from his teammates after unexpectedly showing off his post moves and a smooth one-legged fadeaway that increased the Warriors’ one-point lead to three late in the fourth quarter.
Facing their biggest enemy of the regular season Thursday -- the road -- the Warriors’ core stepped up to pull out the needed win away from Chase Center.
Four different Warriors players finished with 20 or more points Wednesday, as Steph Curry (31), Klay Thompson (25), Andrew Wiggins (20) and Green (21) displayed their championship DNA in the most important game of the season thus far.
Golden State Warriors
It's the reason Golden State has won four titles in the last eight seasons, and something Williams referred to as the "purest form of basketball" we have in the game of basketball today.
"I think the Warriors get to the Western Conference Finals," Williams said. "If they’re able to get by the [Los Angeles] Lakers in the next round, we’ll see how they pan up against Denver or Phoenix. Denver is my favorite, but if I keep seeing Golden State continue to play this way, Golden State might be my favorite.
"If they continue to grow and elevate the way they’ve been playing over these last three, four games, it’s a different team."
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The Warriors now take a potentially series-ending game into their beloved San Francisco home at Chase Center, with a chance to eliminate the No. 3-seeded Kings and advance to the Western Conference semifinals for the seventh time in the last nine years.
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