Draymond Green played “like s--t” in Game 3. He admitted it.
Look no further than these StatMuse tweets about the Warriors’ vocal leader after the disappointing 116-100 loss to the Boston Celtics to fall down 2-1 in the series.
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Not good. Not good at all. So when Stephen A. Smith went on “First Take” this morning, there was a good chance Green would be in the eye of his storm.
Smith framed it as “a motivational speech,” but there were daggers mixed throughout his almost three-minute tirade. (And the bombastic talking head does open up with high praise for both Green and Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, and also makes it a point to say he “loves” listening to “The Draymond Green Show” podcast.)
“That’s two games Dray,” Smith contended. “One game, you admitted you weren’t yourself. Game 1. Game 3 last night, you said you played like you know what. Are you ready for somebody to look at you and say to you, Draymond Green, you are on the verge of costing the Golden State Warriors two titles. When you lost in 2016, you all win that series in five if you don’t get suspended for the game because you accumulated too many technical fouls (actually, flagrant fouls). That’s one title.
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“Now if you lose to Boston,” Smith continued on his fierce monologue. “Because Game 1 you didn’t show up. Game 3 you didn’t show up. That we can’t rely on you to show up for more than one game at a time. That’s going to be a problem. Steph Curry needs you bro. Klay Thompson needs you bro. Jordan Poole needs you bro. It’s time. Period.”
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Now the motivation part.
“You’ve got to show up,” Smith asserted. “The same things you did in Game 2. Getting in everybody’s face. Being disruptive. Setting screens and picks. Being physical. Playing with force. Letting the Boston Celtics know they’re going to have to deal with you. That’s what you’ve got to do. You all can’t go down 3-1 to Boston. You ain’t winning three straight against Boston. This is it Draymond. This is it. No more. You’r a Hall of Famer. You’re a three-time champion. But you’ve got to play. Because right now, Al Horford looks better than you. He’s shooting the ball better. He’s rebounding the ball better. He’s defending better. You’ve got to change that.”
There are parts of his rant that are certainly debatable, but even Warriors fans will agree that if Golden State is going to win another title, Draymond Green is essential to making that a reality.