The Golden State Warriors had no answers for Jaren Jackson Jr.
Until it mattered most.
Jackson was carving up the Warriors in Game 4 of the first round series between Golden State and Memphis, and with the Warriors up 98-95 in the final moments of the game, Jackson had the ball in his hands.
He dribbled near traffic until attempting to uncork an ambitious 3-point attempt with 13 seconds left. Green, far and away the Warriors’ top defender, was playing Jackson tight and managed to get a hand on the shot. That allowed for it to fall well short and into Golden State’s possession, sealing the victory to put the Warriors up 3-1 in the series.
After the play a timeout was called, and the Warriors were celebrating. As they did, Green was spotted shouting something at Jackson.
“Jaren Jackson was having an absolutely incredible game. We couldn’t get a stop – Otto (Porter) couldn’t get a stop, Klay (Thompson) couldn’t get a stop, I couldn’t get a stop, none of us could get a stop on Jaren Jackson in the second half,” Green said on his podcast. “For the lip readers out there, (after the block) I simply said ‘Don’t do that for game.’ He’s having a great game, but don’t go at me for game.
“I don’t like that. It’s disrespectful, but the reality is somebody going at (me) for game, sometimes it goes the opposite way. I take it all the way back to the Andre Miller game in the playoffs my rookie year. But I don’t like that, don’t go at me for game. And they did it, and I understand, Jaren had it going, no Ja (Morant), Dillon Brooks was having a pretty rough night. They go to their guy, I totally get it, incredible, incredible performance by Jaren, he’s been incredible all series, actually. But I had to do what I’m paid to do, and that’s come up with big-time stops in big-time moments.”
The Grizzlies didn’t have much of a choice but to go at Green. Jackson was playing markedly better than anyone else on the floor at that point, and so the Warriors in that spot unsurprisingly were going to have Green mark Jackson. It simply might have been a dearth of other options that put them in that spot instead of a desire to go after Green. That said, Jackson did force the shot, as it was a low-percentage look with plenty of time still on the clock.
The Warriors ended up making three free throws in the final seconds as the Grizzlies hit one late triple to give Golden State the 101-98 victory. Jackson finished with a team-high 21 points, adding five rebounds.
Green and the Warriors will look to put a bow on the series Wednesday in Memphis in Game 5.
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