“Irritant, agitator, you talk about provoker, gets people engaged, that is the epitome of who he is” - Jay Williams believes Draymond Green played his role to perfection in Game 2 vs the Celtics
What Draymond Green does on the basketball court transcends the box-score. Often (and rightly) described as a free-safety who goes around mucking up the rhythm of the opposing team, Green is a loud-mouthed menace who thrives off the mistakes of his opponents by creating a suffocating and hostile environment.
Former NBA player Jay Williams gave Draymond his flowers for his performance in Game 2:
"Knowing your role and elevating your role is what gets you paid a lot of money (in the NBA). So, job description for Draymond Green, irritant, agitator, you talk about provoker, gets people engaged. That is the epitome of who he is, provocateur. First possession last night, jump ball on Al Horford, rips the ball from him, rolls him down the ground."
"He engaged everybody on the Boston Celtics team and now there are a lot of reasons why Boston lost this game, but Draymond Green is one of the main reasons why Golden State won this game because you felt the energy from the first posession of the damn ball game, and that matters."
Game 3 will be played on Wednesday in Boston.
Game 2 of the NBA Finals: Draymond Green and Stephen Curry turn it up on defense as Celtics take a huge blow
The Warriors leveled the series last night with a 107-88 win over the Boston Celtics. Stephen Curry led all the scorers with 29 points, and Jordan Poole chipped in with 17 points off the bench.
The adjustment that the Warriors seem to have made from Game 1 was to use the high pick-and-roll at a higher rate and be a lot more physical on defense. Draymond Green set the tone on the very first play of the game, picking up Al Horford on top of the key and forcing a jump ball.
For the rest of the game, the Warriors played gritty defense, with moments of defensive brilliance from every player on the floor, notably including Stephen Curry and Gary Payton II, who returned to play after a month of rehab.
the bench was loving JP's buzzer-beater 📍 https://t.co/mGtnGW5hAH
Of note is Jayson Tatum's performance (28/6/3), a comeback from Game 1 failing to impact winning. The Warriors managed to hold off the role players and the bench, something that seems to work better than shutting down Jayson Tatum.
What really lost the game for the Celtics were their turnovers. Credit is due to the Warriors, who, with immaculate on-ball defense and double-teams, forced tough passes and subsequent turnovers.
Golden State scored 33 points off 18 turnovers. They took advantage of the Celtics' big bodies on the floor who failed to get back on defense quickly.