Draymond Green’s defensive masterclass helps Steph Curry-less Warriors’ win after embarrassing Nuggets game

Draymond Green has been helped elevate the defensive tone the Golden State Warriors have set in second half of season.

Draymond Green’s defensive masterclass helps Steph Curry-less Warriors’ win after embarrassing Nuggets game

Golden State Warriors superstar Draymond Green stopped Giannis Antetokounmpo from scoring

Ever since Jimmy Butler joined the Golden State Warriors, they have been a hot 14-2 streak. That streak saw Steph Curry play with newfound joy as he led the team in scoring. Along with their improved defense helmed by Draymond Green, the team looked like they were NBA title bound.

That is until they faced the Denver Nuggets yesterday. That game showed some major flaws in their offensive and defensive schemes. Curry struggled from the field and his misses helped the Nuggets score on the opposite end.

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Then when fatigue set in, their defense was not playing up to their usual standards. This collective mess saw them lose to a Nuggets squad playing without Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Christian Braun. Now questions floated around asking if the Warriors are really that good.

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Tonight, they faced the Milwaukee Bucks, another strong playoff opponent. The Warriors lined up without Steph Curry, as HC Steve Kerr preferred to rest him rather than risk adding on to the fatigue. Some expected them to lose this game.

But Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler were on a mission. The latter contributed with 24 points. 8 rebounds and 10 assists. In addition to his scoring, Butler did his part on defense. The Golden State Warriors’ defense was exceptional, but primarily because of Green’s body of work.

The 35-year-old did not allow Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo to get a point while defending him. Impressive considering Green loses in athletic attributes to him any day. The Greek Freak attempted six shots, missing all and was even embarrassed by his opponent while taking off on a trademark drive to the rim.

Draymond Green makes his case for Defensive Player of the Year

Draymond Green struggled again to help his teams offensively. But defensively, he has set the tone. Holding down the opposition’s best player, who also happens to be a two-time league MVP, to 0 points should get him some Defensive Player of the Year votes. At least that is what Green thinks so.

I don’t see players completely throwing off an entire team’s offense. Especially with Wemby going down. It seemed like he had it won. Now it’s right there. One million percent I have a case, and I’ll continue to build that case.

Draymond Green said

The four-time NBA Champion pointed out that voters usually award players based on statistics. If one watches the games, they can understand how he affects a team defensively. That is why some great players of the past do not have enough DPOY awards to prove how good they were.

He thinks it is a disservice when voters only follow statistics. Statistics have awarded players such as Rudy Gobert the DPOY award four times. But Draymond Green and others have pointed how that Gobert is not as defensively impactful as his awards say.

This season’s Defensive Player of the Year candidates

If one purely looks at the statistics page on the NBA’s official site, it is evident that Walker Kessler has impressive numbers. If the Utah Jazz center can keep this level up, he can be a favorite in the race for the Defensive Player of the Year.

On the other hand, Atlanta Hawks star Dyson Daniels is on pace to break an NBA record. He currently averages three steals a game. If he finishes his first season with the Hawks with those numbers, he will break the all-time single season record for steals per game.

Some have lobbied for his name to be included in the DPOY race. But with the overreliance on statistics, he might not be able to reach the top. This season, the race to be the DPOY is wide open after Victor Wembanyama ended his season early.