SAN FRANCISCO — It took Draymond Green all of 11 seconds to make his statement on Sunday night: Game 2 was gonna be different.
After the Boston Celtics bullied their way to a Game 1 victory in the NBA Finals – with Green on the wrong end of some unflattering game film – Draymond and the Dubs changed the narrative en route to a 107-88 victory to even the series.
On the game’s opening possession, Green wrestled with Celtics forward Al Horford and caused a jump ball. You could see the intensity pouring out from him early and the Warriors never let their foot off the pedal. The Celtics' point total was their smallest of the postseason, as they shot just 37.5 percent from the field.
"It's my job to set the tone from the defensive side of the ball,” Green said. “And I wanted to do that from the very beginning of the game. First play we come out with a jump ball, and we come out with a turnover. Very important for me to come out that way on that side. I have to continue to do that in this series. It's not going to get any easier. It's only going to get tougher. Have to take that up another couple notches.”
Emotions ran high for Green all night, as he was whistled for a technical foul in the first half even though the refs had just made a call on his opponent, Grant Williams. Green was jawing with Williams later in the game, while he was also engaged in some early trash talk with Celtics star Jayson Tatum. He also had a spirited and-one take in the first half that resulted in a trademark flex celebration.
Green almost nearly picked up a second technical when he got tangled up with Jaylen Brown on a 3-point attempt and his feet were hanging above Brown’s head as they fell to the floor.
"That's what Draymond Green does," Brown said. "He'll do whatever it takes to win. He'll pull you, he'll grab you, he'll try to muck the game up because that's what he does for their team. It's nothing to be surprised about. Nothing I'm surprised about. He raised his physicality to try to stop us and we've got to raise ours. Looking forward to the challenge."
Green finished with nine points, seven assists and five rebounds, but he had an on-brand, beyond-the-box score type of impact Sunday.
"You could have put Draymond on Coach Udoka, and it would have been a different ballgame from yesterday just based on the way he approached the game," Steph Curry said. "Matchups are matchups. But everybody has to bring the right intensity and Draymond did that from the jump."
Even Green's screens were taken to another level Sunday night, as he took out three Celtics in one possession at one point and didn't get whistled.
Steph said he knew Draymond would come out amped up, with the way he reacted to Thursday’s loss. Green was caught flat-footed on multiple occasions Thursday and let the Celtics get some open looks that opened the floodgates. No chance of that happening again.
“About five minutes after Game 1,” Curry said of when he knew Green would be fired up. “That's all I needed to see and hear from him just in terms of he knew what he needed to do. I think we talk about it, some of that stuff doesn't necessarily -- or doesn't always show up in the stat sheet in terms of points, rebounds, assists, just that wow factor, but you feel him in his presence and the other team feels his presence and his intensity, and that is contagious for all of us. It was great to see.”
Green’s defensive responsibilities morphed depending on the possession, but he took a lion’s share of the work against Brown and helped prevent him from getting anything going in the paint. Brown finished with 17 points, including just four after halftime, on 5-of-17 shooting.
“I think everybody played with more force,” Green said. “It wasn't just me on Jaylen Brown. It was across the board. If I just pick up my force and no one else does, it doesn't work. It's a total team effort, guys being ready to help when help is needed and guys taking on the challenge at the point of attack. Yes, I wanted to come out and be more aggressive on that side, and I think I did a good job of that. But that's a full team effort. It doesn't just work because of one guy.”
After the Celtics shot 21-of-41 from 3-point land in Game 1, they came back down to earth and shot a healthy 40.5 percent (15-of-37) but needed a lot more firepower on a night when they were outscored 40-24 in the paint. Draymond played a big role in stopping the Celtics before they could even get started in the paint.
Draymond said he would play a better game. He also suspected that Marcus Smart, Al Horford and Derrick White wouldn't combine to go 15-of-23 from 3-point land again like they did in Game 1, and he was right. The trio went a combined 2-for-7 from beyond the arc, as Horford, Smart and Robert Williams were each limited to two points apiece.
Now the Warriors can breathe a sigh of relief before Wednesday’s Game 3 in Boston.
“Overall I think we are in a great mental space,” Green said. “Nobody panicked. Everybody stayed the course. And we ultimately knew if we go out and play our game, we put ourselves right back in position to take control of the series. Now, we haven't taken control of it yet, but we have put ourselves in position to go and take control of it. That's the important thing.”
