As losses were piling up mostly due to a sagging defense prone to implosion, the Warriors plodded into the NBA playoff race this month clutching their hopes, holding their breath and awaiting the repairs sure to come.
They found a measure of comfort in a five-word alert: Wait until Draymond comes back.
Draymond Green returned to the Warriors two weeks ago. He’s not yet back, and he conceded as much Sunday after a 123-115 loss to the Wizards at Capital One Arena in Washington.
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“You’ve just got to grind your way out of it,” Green said. “Make plays. Impact the game. That’s why I feel like I’ve been terrible. I don’t feel my impact on the game has been what it needs to be and what it normally is. Just got to work your way out of it. That’s what I’m doing. Just chip away at it each time I step on the floor.”
Until Draymond is back, fully fit and finely tuned, the Warriors have no chance of pulling out of the nosedive that began Jan. 9, when he went to the sidelines with a back injury.
Unless that happens in the next couple weeks, there is no chance of them making a deep run in the postseason.
The Draymond the Warriors need to be taken seriously in the postseason was spotted briefly on Sunday, when he cranked up his intensity in his matchup with Kristaps Porzingis and the Warriors responded by trimming the deficit from 15 to seven in less than two minutes early in the third quarter.
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The Warriors needed more of that in this game. They will need more of it over the final seven regular-season games and into the playoffs.
“Draymond is still working his way back from the injury,” coach Steve Kerr said. “He doesn’t have the speed and the bounce and the rhythm that he will have a few games from now. He just has to work his way through it.
“His competitiveness in the second half was great. I liked him mixing it up, even though he picked up some fouls. We showed more life in that second half than we did in the first and a big reason for that was Draymond.”
After a nine-week layoff with a back injury, the 32-year-old power forward – who started the last two games at center – is trying and failing to rise to levels his body will not allow. It’s evident at both ends, acutely so on defense.
“I’m missing some plays that I’d normally make – on both sides of the ball,” Green said. “It’s not one specific thing. I’m still just trying to find my timing. I feel a step slow on everything. The game feels like it’s moving at a million miles an hour right now. It’ll happen. Just not right now.”
Green totaled seven points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals. He also had three turnovers and four fouls, one of which was a flagrant-1 against Porzingis. More telling, Draymond was a team-worst minus-20 over his 26 minutes.
Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins were effective, combining for 48 points on 50-percent shooting, while Otto Porter Jr. and Gary Payton II made positive contributions at both ends. It was almost enough to offset abysmal 3-point shooting, the invisibility of Jonathan Kuminga and the vanishing of the gold dust that has shadowed Jordan Poole most of this month.
What the Warriors needed, in the worst way, was a defensive beast.
That’s Draymond. It’s the element that has defined his 10-year career, the role for which he is suited and the persona he embraces. He is one of the few guys in the league capable of turning a game – or a stretch of a season – with the power of defense.
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Not yet. And despite the Warriors losing five of seven games since his return, there remains a a belief.
“Things can definitely line up,” Green said. “But health is important. Things can still line up. We’ve got to play better basketball, and it starts with me. I’ve been terrible. Just got to find it.”
He found it Sunday, though only for a couple minutes. He’ll have to find it soon, and sustain it for longer periods, to be the catalyst the Warriors need for the defensive turnaround that can save their season.