With the Golden State Warriors’ season hanging by a thread partly through his own doing, Draymond Green provided a vintage performance to save his team against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday at Frost Bank Center.
A lacklustre Warriors found themselves down by eight at half-time, only for Green to turn the game on its head with some extraordinary impact on both ends in a game-defining third-quarter.
Draymond Green has led a 117-113 comeback victory for the Golden State Warriors against the San Antonio Spurs on Easter Sunday
Green had 11 points in the period as the Warriors poured in 37 points in the third, but it was his defense that was just as important after giving up 60 points in the first-half. The former Defensive Player of the Year regularly got his hands in passing lanes, helping to limit the Spurs to just 21 points for the quarter.
After turning the eight-point deficit into an eight-point lead, Golden State appeared in control when they led by 11 with just over two minutes remaining. Yet thanks to an extraordinary 32 points, nine rebounds, five assists, four blocks and three steals from number one overall pick Victor Wembanyama, the Spurs surged to cut the advantage to two with a minute still remaining.
Green would again stamp his impact with a big offensive rebound from a Stephen Curry miss, quickly finding Klay Thompson for a huge three. After Wembanyama hit a pair of free-throws, Green boxed out the French phenom on a Brandin Podziemski miss, forcing him to foul where the 34-year-old made a clutch free-throw to seal the game.
It was arguably Green’s best performance of the season, with the four-time All-Star recording 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the floor. He also added six rebounds, 11 assists and six steals, finishing as a game-high +13 in his nearly 32 minutes.
Green’s two-way influence almost pushed Curry into being the sidekick, but the 36-year-old was equally important in finishing with a game-high 33 points that included seven made three-pointers. The two-time MVP’s performance was pivotal given the struggles of Thompson and Andrew Wiggins who combined for 17 points on just 7-of-25 shooting, not to mention that Golden State’s offense was again limited by a third-straight absence for Jonathan Kuminga.
Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody picked up some of the slack off the bench, with the former scoring 12 points to go with seven rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals. Moody made two of his three attempts from beyond the arc, backing up his 15-point display against the Charlotte Hornets with another 10 points.
The Warriors shot 48.9% from the floor and 41% from three-point range, with the win concluding a 4-1 road-trip that hard started with a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves last Sunday. Just as importantly, the chasing Houston Rockets were soundly beaten by the Dallas Mavericks, giving Golden State a two-game advantage as the Western Conference’s tenth-seed.
