CLEVELAND — In Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals — the game after Draymond Green picked up an after-the-fact Flagrant 2 foul for kicking Steven Adams below the belt — Green was timid and terrible. Trying not to pick up another flagrant, Green played a tentative game and was a big part of the reason Golden State lost that game.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr is not worried about a repeat performance.
“I’m not worried about him getting into any trouble,” Kerr said before Game 6 tipped off. “He plays incredibly hard. He plays with passion. He’s also a very, very smart player. He’s well aware of what just happened, and I don’t think he could be goaded into anything like that.”
One year ago to the day the Warriors closed out their first championship in 40 years in this same building.
“Yeah, when they had a chance to celebrate in our locker room, and that left a bitter taste in our mouth,” Cavaliers’ coach Tyronn Lue said. “So we’ve got to come out tonight and be very prepared and ready to fight and play like we’ve been playing in games 3 and 5.”
What did Kerr tell his team pregame?
“No heroics necessary. Just be rock solid,” Kerr said. “Defend like we know we can with a purpose, with physicality. Offensively, take care of the ball, be sharp with your cuts, your passes, shoot with confidence, and that’s it. It’s nothing more than that. Sounds very simple, but for whatever reason, we’ve had a couple games in this series where our defensive focus wasn’t there and where our attention to detail handling the ball wasn’t there.”