Warriors Confident Draymond Green Will Bounce Back After Bad Game 3

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has been a constant topic of discussion throughout the 2022 NBA Finals. Just not for all the right reasons.

Whether it be his antics in Game 2 at Chase Center, the villainous treatment he received in Game 3 at TD Garden, his bevy of podcast episodes or a tense exchange in his most recent postgame press conference, there hasn’t been a shortage of Draymond Green content. What there has been a shortage of is production.

Through three games, Green has posted 15 total points on 5-for-19 shooting, 20 total rebounds and 15 total assists in a team high 108 minutes played. Despite that, the Warriors still expect him to contribute moving forward.

Warriors star Stephen Curry was asked how he expected Green to impact the series moving forward, and gave a fairly straight-forward answer.

“Same way he kind of did in Game 2,” Curry said in his Thursday media availability. “Same emotion, but just focus on impacting the game on both ends of the floor. We’ve been in hostile environments before. We understand what the emotions are like.

“… the fact that we clawed our way back in the third quarter, he was a part of that defensively, for sure… I know Draymond will help lead that charge tomorrow, just like he did in Game 2. We’ll get back in the series.”

Curry’s confidence in Green was shared by Warriors coach Steve Kerr.

“Yeah, he had a tough game, but I trust Draymond as much as I trust anybody,” Kerr said in his postgame press conference following Game 3. “You know, he always bounces back from losses and from tough nights individually. He’ll be back on Friday.”

The Warriors will likely need him to contribute, at least more than he has through three games, if they want to avoid falling into a 3-1 deficit. Tipoff for Game 4 from TD Garden is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET.