Draymond Green still isn’t taking the Celtics seriously after they came to the Warriors’ home court and dominated the fourth quarter to take Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
Draymond Green called out insulted Al Horford
There’s a strong chance he’s going to regret his words.
The Celtics defeated the Warriors 120-108 at Chase Arena thanks to some otherworldly shooting. They shot 51.2 percent from 3-point range overall, with Al Horford, Marcus Smart and Derrick White hitting 15 of their 23 shots beyond the arc.
Horford made a career-high six threes.
Green said he doesn’t expect Horford, Smart and White to deliver the same performances again. “They hit 21 threes, and Marcus Smart and Al Horford and Derrick White combined for 15 of them,” Green told reporters in his postgame presser. “The guys are good shooters, but they combined for, what, 15 out of 8; Smart, 7, 8, 15-for-23. My math right? 8, 7 and 8. Yeah, that's 23, right. Yeah, 15-for-23 from those guys, eh, you know, so, we'll be fine.”
If the Warriors falter, we know which quote will be replayed again and again.
“Eh, you know, we’ll be fine.”
Green repeated that mantra four times. We pretty much dominated the game for the first 41, 42 minutes," he said. "So we'll be fine."
Green was not fine Thursday, going just 2-of-12 from the field and clanking all four of his threes. It was one of the worst playoff performances of his career.
Meanwhile, the Celtics continue to receive extraordinary efforts from their players on a nearly nightly basis. White is on a roll: he’s averaging 16.3 points per night since Game 5 against the Heat.
Though Smart is often maligned for his shooting, he’s averaging 15.7 points per game during the playoffs.
And Horford is enjoying the postseason of his life. He’s shooting 51.9 percent from the field and an incredible 46.3 percent from three.
Green should tread wisely. Horford calmly dominated the Warriors in the final minutes of Game 1.
By the way, it’s worth mentioning that Jayson Tatum shot just 3-of-17 and finished 12 points. He’ll likely be a bigger factor as the series progresses.
Green may want to correct the record. This seemingly won’t end well.
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