In Game 2 of the NBA Finals, it was a consistent jolt from Draymond Green that helped give the Golden State Warriors a win.
In Game 3, that player was nowhere to be found.
Green delivered an underwhelming performance Wednesday night in the Warriors 116-100 loss to the Boston Celtics, which gave the C’s a 2-1 lead in the series.
For as impactful a player as Green is, he’s one of those guys who the box score seldom is an ideal way of measuring his performance. But his woeful line – two points with four rebounds and three assists before fouling out after 35 minutes – only looks worse when he was a nonfactor in other areas of the game he typically excels in.
He knows it.
“Tonight may have been one of the worst games of my career,” Green admitted on his podcast “The Draymond Green Show”. “... I think for me, I just let too much noise get into my head about all the other stuff. So in turn, I let that drag my intensity level down, I’m going into the game like ‘Alright, I’m not going to say this, I’m not going to do that, I’m not gonna give the refs a chance to call a tech and blah, blah, blah, blah blah.’”
Green entered Game 3 in a good spot. He became the villain of the series after dustups with Jaylen Brown and Grant Williams in Game 2, and Celtics fans happily rained down “Draymond sucks” and “F–-k Draymond” chants throughout the game.
Ordinarily, that’s a recipe to get him going.
“I did the exact opposite of what I said I was going to do or what I needed to do,” Green said. “I did the exact opposite, I actually did what most people think I should do. And that just doesn’t work for me, that's not who I am. So, ultimately, I have gotten into this position ... by simply being me and trusting in who I am, trusting in what I bring into the court and ultimately just blocking out the noise because there’s always noise, and then I didn’t do that. And so I think for me, the biggest adjustment is just coming out and being Draymond Green.”
Green and the Warriors will look to even the series at two games apiece when they meet the Celtics for Game 4. Tip from TD Garden is set for 9 p.m. ET.
Related
