Draymond Green was a team-worst minus-23 during the Warriors’ 119-103 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night at Chase Center, and he took responsibility for his rough performance a few hours later.
On the latest “Draymond Green Show” podcast, which was recorded after Sunday's game and released Monday, the Warriors forward took ownership of his impact on teammate Klay Thompson and Nuggets center Nikola Jokić.
“Klay came off the bench firing in the first half,” Green said. “And I think it’s on me, I got to do a better job of making sure he gets more touches in the second half. Although our minutes don’t match up as much as they did before, I think it’s still my role on this team to make sure that he’s getting more shots in the second half.”
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Thompson scored 23 points in the first half, as the Warriors and Nuggets went into the halftime break tied 61-61. He wouldn’t score again, and Golden State struggled to find consistent offense -- even after Steph Curry heated up in the third quarter.
Green believes he has to dedicate more touches to Thompson, especially when he has the hot hand. However, he admitted Thompson's move to the bench is a situation he’s getting used to since they’re not on the court as much as they would be if they were starting together.
Thompson’s scoring would’ve boosted Golden State’s stagnant second-half offense, but Jokić’s domination supersedes all outcomes and what-ifs.
“[Jokić’s] 32 [points], 16 [assists] and 16 [rebounds] gave me complete hell tonight," Green said. "I’ve had my fair share of good matchups against Joker. He gave me total and complete hell tonight. I had absolutely no answers. And I’m just going to laugh about it because either you laugh or you cry. And so I’m going to laugh about it. I had absolutely no answers tonight.”
Golden State Warriors
As Green explained, Jokić was unstoppable. The two-time NBA MVP winner shot 52.2-percent from the floor and seemingly could do no wrong for Denver.
The Warriors’ loss dropped them to 0-4 against the Nuggets in the 2023-24 NBA season. And while choosing to “laugh” about the poor outing, Green emphasized Golden State’s desire to get back on track.
“It was one of those games that you kind of just got to flush,” Green declared. “That’s a very good team, that’s why they are defending champions. I’m going to take this loss and flush it down the toilet, and we’re going to move on to Washington. Then we’re going to get back on the winning track and we’re going to have a great road trip. That is what I am switching my focus to.”
The Warriors are 29-27 and 16-15 at home. They trail the 31-28 Los Angeles Lakers by half a game for the West’s No. 9 seed and the 34-24 Phoenix Suns by four games for the highly coveted No. 6 seed.
Green will have a chance to atone for his poor performance when the Warriors travel to take on Jordan Poole and Wizards on Tuesday night.