The intensity that Golden State Warriors veteran Draymond Green established against the Boston Celtics in Game 2 of the NBA Finals at Chase Center didn't make the cross-country trip to TD Garden for Game 3. In the Warriors' 116-100 loss on Wednesday, Green struggled to disrupt the Celtics' flow, as he scored just two points over 35 minutes and fouled out with a plus-minus of minus-13. The raucous crowd grilled Green, as he entered Game 3 as the city's enemy.
The jeers were rooted in Green's actions during Game 2. Late in the first half, he ignited a scuffle with Celtics star Jaylen Brown after fouling him on a shot attempt. And if the incident had been ruled a technical foul, it would've been Green's second of the game, resulting in automatic ejection. Cedric Maxwell, who won two rings with the Celtics in the 1980s, argued that his era wouldn't have allowed Green to go unpunished. Green responded to the remarks, and questioned Maxwell's role as a tough-guy player.
"Maxwell was [a tough guy]. His whole game was downlow. The guy was only 6-foot-8, and he got so much done inside," longtime Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy told The DA Show on Thursday. "You've got to remember in 1981, he's a pretty young man then. He charged into the stands in Philly to go after a fan. He got into it with Charles Barkley later in the '80s with a fist fight. He wasn't an enforcer -- they had other guys for that.
"But, in terms of toughness, they had the greatest playoffs of all, against the Lakers [in 1984]. That's when Kurt Rambis gets taken down by Kevin McHale on the clothesline and stops the layup lines of the Lakers... Maxwell scored his season-high in Game 7 of the Finals, and that subsequent to the MVP of the Finals, back in 1981. That's a tough guy... Cedric could've talked with the best of them... There was just a lot of trash talk back then, they lived on it."
Golden State, which clinched the West's third seed with a 53-29 record, will play Game 4 against Boston on Friday night, with tip-off scheduled for 9 ET. According to FiveThirtyEight's projections, the Warriors currently have a 13-percent chance to capture their fourth league title since 2015. If the Celtics hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy, it'll be their NBA-record 18th in team history.
The entire NBA conversation between Shaughnessy and DA can be accessed in the audio player above.
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