Draymond finding 3-point confidence gives Dubs new element originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
SACRAMENTO — Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala and Otto Porter Jr. all sported street clothes and were stuck to the sidelines Sunday night at Golden 1 Center on the second night of a back-to-back. Not Draymond Green, though.
Draymond played 33 minutes Saturday night in the Warriors’ win against the Utah Jazz, his most since missing 31 straight games to a herniated disc. He easily could have asked to take a seat against the lowly Kings. But he knows how important every rep is for him right now to get back to full strength before the playoffs begin.
The Warriors’ boisterous leader sent a pregame message to Golden State’s youngsters before beating the Kings 109-90 that this would be a big game for them, that they couldn’t play down to their opposition and emphasized just how important every minute is to close out the regular season the right way.
He also sent a message to himself that it was time to show the rest of the league a side of himself that has been given little use this season. Keep leaving him wide open from deep. Teams have dared him to take the shot, and that’s what he did right away to give the Warriors their first three points of the night. Green’s first two shot attempts in Sacramento came from beyond the arc.
Draymond drained them both.
“It was great,” Green said of hitting two early 3-pointers. “I had told myself coming into the game I’m gonna come out firing tonight. And then I hit those two and I stopped firing. But it was great.
“It was really good to see those couple go in. … But this is my time of year where I hit shots, you know. So I’m looking forward to how those teams have been playing me, how they were playing me in Game 7. I love that. It’s about that time of year where I start shooting 40 [percent] from three.”
Green’s Game 7 reference goes back to the 2016 NBA Finals went he scored 33 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers and made six of his eight 3-point attempts as the Cavs kept challenging him to do so.
But coming into Sunday night’s game against the Kings, he was making only 26 percent of his 3-pointers and only attempting 1.2 per game. Both were the lowest of his career since his rookie year in the 2012-13 season.
For his career, Green is shooting slightly over 31 percent on 3-pointers in the regular season. However, he’s shooting over 33 percent from downtown for his career in April, 34.5 percent in the first round of the playoffs and 35.7 percent in the second round. Sunday marked just the second time this season he has made multiple 3-pointers in a game, and the first since the Warriors’ win over the Phoenix Suns on Christmas.
“When Draymond makes two threes, we almost always win,” Steve Kerr said. “He softens up the defense a little bit, it gets him going, his energy picks up and it’s a big factor if he can make a couple, and he got us off to a really good start.”
The Warriors now have won both games this season when Green makes multiple 3-pointers. They’re 118-24 in the regular season when he does so, and 34-7 in the playoffs. That’s 152-31 overall, good for an 83.1 win percentage.
In a staring lineup that features Green and center Kevon Looney, defenses have almost played 5-on-3 at times, giving zero respect to two offensive players for their lack of scoring and shooting. If Draymond even shows defenses that he’s willing and capable of letting it fly from long distance, it makes the Warriors that much scarier and that much more explosive. He doesn’t have to make every single shot. He does have bring the fear factor from that part of the floor.
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From the moment Sunday night’s game tipped off, he accepted his own challenge and the one the Kings’ defense presented. He passed his latest test with flying colors during his ninth game post-injury, and for the first time playing a back-to-back.
The mere thought of teams begging him to do just that only brought a bigger and bigger grin for Green. That’s a welcome sight for the Warriors, and a Danger Zone sign for everybody else.
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