Is Draymond Green Starting For The Warriors In Game 4 vs The Clippers?

Is Draymond Green Starting For The Warriors In Game 4 vs The Clippers? (Photo: Chris Carlson / Associated Press)

WARRIORS PRACTICE FACILITY, OAKLAND, CA — Golden State Warriors head coach said today at practice that he is “still thinking about” a change to the starting lineup, which for the last two games of this 2014 NBA Playoffs Round 1 series, has not had much success containing the Los Angeles Clippers‘ Blake Griffin.

“Have not come to a conclusion yet,” Jackson said, “Will make a decision sometime today.”

The speculation is that Jackson would probably replace Jermaine O’Neal with Draymond Green.

“He’s tough, he’s a great competitor, battles, rebounds, defends at a extremely high level, is a big-time screen setter,” said Jackson today of Green, “He’s a guy that stretches the floor. he’s exactly who he’s been for us from Day One.”

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Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group:

Reading between the lines: Draymond Green might start Sunday.
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Good. The Los Angeles Clippers have established through the first three games, even in losing one, that they are the superior team. Especially with starting center Andrew Bogut knocked out by a fractured rib, the Warriors can’t match up to the talent and explosiveness of the No. 3 seed.
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The Warriors’ best hope is to change the tide. They’ve got to somehow get the Clippers off their game while igniting their own. Something to shake up this playoff series and reclaim the momentum.
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It’s a testament to him, and perhaps a knock to this roster, that most of the ways to do that involve the second-year backup forward out of Michigan State.
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Can’t figure out a way to slow down Blake Griffin, who is averaging 27.7 points per game on 61.8 percent shooting in the playoffs? Put Green on him.
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“Absolutely,” Green said. “I love the challenge. He’s an All-Star, All-NBA power forward. It fuels me to be in a position to go against those type of guys. Shows what you’re made of.”

Monte Poole of CSN Bay Area

Griffin has scored 83 points in 93 minutes against a variety of defenders. Lee has been the first option, followed by either Draymond Green or O’Neal. Marreese Speights has had his chances. Small forward Andre Iguodala has been forced into the job a couple times, as has third-string center Hilton Armstrong.
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So far, though, no one has been able to thwart Griffin.
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Since Game 1, when Griffin got into early foul trouble and played only 19 minutes, scoring 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting, he is shooting 66.7 percent (28 of 42) and is the primary reason the Clippers bounced back to win Games 2 and 3.
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Jackson acknowledged the possibility of turning to some of his reserve big men to utilize the Hack-a-Blake defense, saying he’s given that tactic “some serious thought,” to making Griffin earn his points at the foul line.

Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle:

…the Warriors played their best 6 1/2 minutes using a smaller lineup in their Game 3 loss to the Clippers.
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“I could make a change,” Jackson said Friday, ahead of Sunday’s Game 4. “I won’t say whether I will or with who, but it’s possible. We’ve got to figure out a way to present some resistance. I think things are going a little too smoothly right now for Blake” Griffin.
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After having trouble keeping Griffin from scoring, power forward David Lee got a quick hook in the third quarter of Thursday’s game, and center Jermaine O’Neal followed Lee to the bench a couple of minutes later. With Draymond Green playing center and Harrison Barnes playing power forward, the Warriors trimmed an 18-point deficit to eight.
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They were down 11 in the fourth quarter when Lee re-entered at center and Green moved to power forward. Three minutes and 13 seconds later, Klay Thompson made a turnaro

Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group:

“Defensively, things were happening a little too easy,” Jackson said of sitting Lee.
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“I thought he battled after that. I thought the start in the third quarter, we were very passive.”
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Lee acknowledged that Griffin, who has combined to score 67 points in Games 2 and 3, has outplayed him in those games.
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“We know that we still haven’t played in my opinion very good ball for our team,” Lee said. “We played a decent second half in the first game. We played awful in the second game. And (Thursday), we still haven’t shot the ball well. We still haven’t played I don’t think our brand of defense.”
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Jackson also sat down center Jermaine O’Neal in the third quarter in favor of Harrison Barnes, as O’Neal didn’t check back in until the game’s final play. But Jackson said O’Neal was fine physically and that he liked the defense the 35-year-old played on Griffin.

Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN.com:

It remains to be seen whether Lee will attempt to make good on that prediction as a starting power forward, a reserve or a starting center. When asked specifically if Green would start on Sunday, Jackson was noncommittal, saying, “I’m not sure which way I’m going to go.”
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He did provide a clue as to where the lineup changes could be, confirming that possible tweaks would be either at the power forward or center spots.
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“If there is [a change], then that’s where it’d be, yes,” Jackson said. “It won’t be any changes as far as the perimeter guys.”