2014 Round 1 Game 6 Warriors vs Clippers Playoffs Story Lines – Draymond Green’s Defense Of Blake Griffin

2014 Round 1 Game 6 Warriors vs Clippers Playoffs Story Lines – Draymond Green’s Defense Of Blake Griffin (Photo: The Chronicle)

One of the best subplots to come out of last night’s 100-99 Game 6 triumph of the Golden State Warriors over the Los Angeles Clippers in this Round 1 series of the 2014 NBA Western Conference Playoffs was Draymond Green‘s one-on-one defense against Blake Griffin.

Griffin stopped short of directly giving Green credit for Griffin’s subpar outing of 17 points on 8-for-24 from the field to go along with 9 rebounds, but local and national writers didn’t and gave their praise to Green.

NBAstats.com gave the following analysis:

In the Warriors Game 6 victory versus the Clippers, Draymond Green was extremely effective in limiting Blake Griffin’s productivity on 22 touches.

	Draymond Green	David Lee
Matchup Time	6:41	1:21
FGM-FGA	4-13	3-4
Points	8	6

Steve Berman of Bay Area Sports Guy:

Green finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds, five steals and five fouls. In the last minute and a half, Green made two plays that summarized his night.
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– With the Warriors up 96-94, the Warriors decided to give the ball to Harrison Barnes on an isolation (ugh). After Barnes missed a contested 10-footer, the ball soared high into the air. DeAndre Jordan, who had 19 rebounds at the time, was in position. Jordan would finish the game with 19 rebounds, as Green came up from underneath, leaped and grabbed the ball away from a surprised Jordan. Jordan fouled Green as he came down with the ball, and Green made both free throws.
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– Jordan got a lob dunk, and Harrison Barnes was fouled and made both free throws. After the Clippers missed three straight shots, Matt Barnes made a three and Stephen Curry was subsequently fouled with 00.4 seconds remaining. Curry missed both free throws and Green was the one who tapped the second miss away from the Clippers. Ballgame.
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Green was also the man primarily responsible for holding Blake Griffin to 17 points on 8-of-24 shooting. Not that Griffin was in a mood to give him any credit when asked to elaborate on the challenges Green posed.

Ray Ratto of CSN Bay Area:

However it splices in the editing room, these two teams have taken a dead-even series and choked it into submission, and fittingly, the best player on either team in this series has not been Blake Griffin or Stephen Curry or Chris Paul or Klay Thompson or DeAndre Jordan or David Lee, but Warrior backup forward Draymond Green – The Little Engine That Could Total Your Car When You Leave It On The Tracks. His defense beat Griffin’s offense, and on a night when neither Paul nor Jordan could make up for that shortfall.
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And when Draymond Green’s defense is what you remember most from a game, you know that “elegant” is not the word that springs immediately to mind.

Ethan Strauss of ESPN.com:

Somehow they collectively summoned enough energy, effort and execution to overcome all that. David Lee has been battling the far-larger Jordan all series, giving up his body until a sixth foul forced him from the action. Draymond Green’s spirited work in guarding the larger Griffin, though Griffin was loath to give Green credit afterward.
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When asked about Green’s defense, Griffin, who shot 8-of-24 from the field, said, “Just missed some easy shots the past couple games here. Whenever you have a smaller defender, it’s not so much the one-on-one matchup just because they’re constantly running people at you. I’ve got to do a better job of reading the double teams and passing out of them, things like that.”

Jimmy Spencer of Fox Sports:

While the Warriors fed off their star, the difference-maker was Draymond Green. The second-year utility guy was behind so many of the big plays late that he even received MVP chants from the crowd. He responded to that after the game: “Oh man, that was amazing. I felt like Stephen Curry up there,” he told the media; The lineup that was on the floor at the final buzzer of Game 6 was a reminder how young these Warriors still are: Only Andre Iguodala (30) is in his 30s. Harrison Barnes (21), Green (24), Klay Thompson (24) and Curry (26) were the other four out there.

Vinny Bonsignore of the Los Angeles Daily News:

At least Paul had an excuse, his hamstring barking just enough to curtail his movement and limit his effectiveness.
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But Griffin is perplexing, especially considering the way the Warriors’ big men are falling and how he’s a matchup nightmare for David Lee and Draymond Green.
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Yet he struggled to 8-of-24 shooting before fouling out late in the fourth quarter, the poor shooting and foul trouble a death knell to the Clippers’ hopes in a game that was well within reach.
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“Just missed some easy shots the past couple games here,” Griffin said, blaming some of his woes on the matchup with Green, whose size disadvantage forces the Warriors to run double teams at Griffin.
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It’s an adjustment that hasn’t gone smoothly for Griffin.
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“Whenever you have a smaller defender, it’s not so much the one-on-one matchup just because they’re constantly running people at you,” he said. “I‘ve got to do a better job of reading the double teams and passing out of them, things like that.”
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He’s got one day to get it figured out, although his teammates pledged support.
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“We’ll get him going,” Jamal Crawford promised.

Steve Berman of Bay Area Sports Guy:

Today I asked Mark Jackson about what Griffin said, and whether the Warriors head coach agreed with Griffin’s assessment. Did he miss a bunch of easy shots, or did the Warriors’ defensive effort have anything to do with Griffin’s subpar shooting night?
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“He’s a great player,” said Jackson, who smiled.
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“It’s heart. You’ve just got to want it. Who wants the ball more? And I said, if DeAndre doesn’t want the ball – he definitely does — I don’t even know how I got it, to be honest. But I knew in that situation that we were up two with time running down, we had just given up a seven-point lead. It was time to make a play, however that play was to be made. And I was blessed by God to be able to come up with that rebound.”
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Great answer. Say, Draymond … what do you think about Griffin’s comments about missing some easy shots?
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“That’s cool. Congrats.”