Draymond Green stole the show with an emphatic block in the final two minutes of the Warriors' 104-100 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday at Chase Center.
Green's heroic defensive stop helped Golden State seal its fifth consecutive victory, while also drawing immense praise from his teammates for the show-stopping crunch time play.
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Following the win, Chris Paul joined NBC Sports Bay Area's "Warriors Postgame Live," where he explained Green's block is among the best plays he ever has seen during his 19-year NBA career.
"I told Dray, 'That might be one of the best plays I done ever seen in my career, and I'm not exaggerating, man,' " Paul revealed on "Warriors Postgame Live." "If you just see the heart, somebody like me who likes defense, I can appreciate it. It's well documented, me and Dray's relationship before I got here. But it's something to see night in and night out, the way he competes. He willed us to this win tonight."
Andrew Wiggins' defensive effort on Mavericks superstar Luka Dončić played a pivotal role in Golden State's thrilling victory on Tuesday. The 29-year-old explained how Green allows he and the rest of the Warriors to thrive defensively, heaping praise on his teammate for his incredible clutch play in Tuesday's win.
Golden State Warriors
"Draymond is special," Wiggins told reporters. "Very special. Defensive mastermind, he's everywhere. He's got everyone's back, that's what gives everyone else the advantage to just play freely defensively, because you know you got Draymond behind you. You know he's going to pick up any slack or anything that happens."
Warriors coach Steve Kerr revealed he expected Green to foul Mavericks big man Daniel Gafford on the play, before sharing the All-NBA forward's defensive effort is a major catalyst for the Warriors' resurgence over the last few weeks.
"That was probably the key defensive play of the game, just a massive play," Kerr told reporters. "I thought he was going to go up to try to foul him and he just had the right angle for the block. That was a huge play, and Draymond was brilliant defensively as he has been for awhile now. He's one of the reasons we've been able to kind of turn the season around.
With the win, Golden State improved to 41-34, and more importantly increased their lead to three games over the Houston Rockets (38-37) for the No. 10 seed in the Western Conference playoff picture.
The Warriors head to Texas for a pivotal matchup with the Rockets on Thursday before an intriguing rematch against the Mavericks on Saturday in Dallas.
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