The Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors are set to begin their NBA Finals matchup on Thursday. While Boston was traveling out to San Francisco to begin their final preparations, Golden State players and coaches spoke to the media, where Warriors forward Draymond Green was quite complimentary toward the Celtics, and one player in particular.
“We’ve been watching it for months now, where their defense is absolutely incredible and they have a good offense,” Green said, as seen in a video provided by NBC Sports Boston. “More importantly, on offense they have a guy, that is one of them guys. Jaylen Brown is absolutely a very good player, but Jayson Tatum is one of them guys. And when you have that, you’ll always have a chance at winning.
“You couple that will all the other pieces there around him, the defense around him, they have veteran leadership. You couple that with all the things that surround him and you look and say, ‘Wow, they really have what it takes.'”
This praise of the Celtics isn’t a first for Green — a part-time analyst for TNT when he’s not playing — as he made waves during the Eastern Conference finals when he picked Boston over Miami prior to Game 6. He went on to explain his reasoning for that pick after Boston pulled out the series victory in Game 7.
“Going into that series Miami was hobbled, and I just didn’t feel like they’d be able to score enough points… Tyler Herro was their second leading scorer on the season if I’m not mistaken,” Green said. “So with him being out, I just didn’t think they’d be able to manufacture enough buckets.”
Green and the Warriors, who have -150 odds to win the NBA Finals according to DraftKings Sportsbook, will host the Celtics in Game 1 at Chase Center on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 9:00 p.m. ET.
