Why Draymond waking up spells trouble for Rockets vs. Warriors originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
While praising longtime teammate Stephen Curry’s marvelous finish in the Warriors’ Game 3 win over the Houston Rockets on Saturday, Draymond Green also sprinkled a bit of criticism upon himself.
Curry, Green explained, excelled as the team’s emotional accelerant, a role customarily filled by him.
“You know, oftentimes I try to bring that energy, and I didn’t have it,” Green said. “And he found it, and then I followed him, and we all followed him.”
Green “didn’t have it,” and didn’t hide from his self-awareness. Truth is, he hasn’t been his usual hyperkinetic self in the first three games of his first-round Western Conference playoff series. It’s always erroneous to measure his impact by individual statistics, and those have been relatively ordinary. What’s more noticeable, though, is that of his inconsistent energy. It waxes and wanes, moments of his famous “fire” interspersed with moments of relative lethargy.
Draymond is, particularly on offense, blending into the scenery much more often than generating action with blowtorch intensity.
It was enough to wonder if, at age 35, he still could summon the vitality that made him such a game-changer.
“They’re trying to take away Draymond’s playmaking and take him out of our offensive scheme as best they can,” coach Steve Kerr conceded on Sunday. “So, this is not an easy series for Dray.”
Green typically lives for the postseason. His pulse quickens, his focus narrows, his voice adds a few decibels, and his raging spirit can spread throughout the locker room. It’s seen. Felt. Off and on the court.
“This is a very difficult series in a lot of ways,” Kerr said, citing the junkyard-dog defense of Houston’s Fred VanVleet. “And they’re doing a good job of trying to get him out of places where he can usually impact the game on the offensive end. The big challenge for Dray is to embrace that, accept the fact that we’re going to generate offense elsewhere, and he can still control the game defensively, regardless of what happens at the offensive end. And I think that’s that was the case (Saturday) night.”
A more familiar Draymond was seen in the second half of Game 3. After a low-impact first half – three points, four rebounds, one assist, one steal, three turnovers, minus-3 over 17 minutes – Draymond blasted off after intermission. He contributed four points, four rebounds, three assists, two blocks, one steal, two turnovers, plus-15 over 17 minutes. They tell part of the story.
His spirit was visible. He scored the first bucket of the fourth quarter. He committed three fouls in an 81-second span. Hyped up, he took his four fouls to the bench to cool off for a couple minutes. Upon returning, he played the last five minutes as if on a rescue mission. A block on Dillon Brooks. An assist to Brandin Podziemski. A block on Alperen Şengün. A swipe of a VanVleet pass.
“His fourth quarter defense was incredible,” Kerr said. “But he has to maintain that, that poise and that edge even through the physicality and the offensive stuff that they’re taking away from him.”
Maybe Green, who shared a contentious postgame exchange with Houston guard Jalen Green, was inspired by the fire started by Curry.
“I thought it was beautiful,” Green said of Curry supplying what he usually does. “He realized that it wasn’t there (for me), and he took it upon himself to bring that type of force to the game, and we all fell in line and followed.”
Maybe, too, Draymond sniffed the savory scent of victory. Winning would give the Warriors a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. They would be in position to silence the nettlesome young Rockets and advance to the conference semifinals.
If that Draymond shows up for Game 4 on Monday night, there might not be a Game 6.
If that Draymond doesn’t show up for Game 4, the Rockets might find an avenue to even the series at 2-2 and regain homecourt advantage upon returning to Houston for Game 5.
Yes, Green still is that important. Has been since 2014. Still is in 2025.
