Stephen Curry is the leader but Draymond Green will be the major catalyst

Over the past few months, headlines coming from the Bay Area have been dominated by Golden State Warriors star guard Stephen Curry. And, to be honest, they should be. Curry has been absolutely spectacular, claiming the league’s scoring title for the second time in his career.

However, while Curry may be having a career year, Draymond Green has quietly been making himself a force to reckoned with as well, especially considering how defenses much adapt to the two-time MVP.

The Golden State Warriors may live or die at the hand of Stephen Curry, but they won’t thrive unless Draymond Green continuing his aggressive play.

If Curry doesn’t go off against the Los Angeles Lakers, the Warriors won’t win their first of potentially two play-in games.

But, the Chef can go off and the Warriors still lose. We’ve seen many spectacular Curry performances this season spoiled by a collective team effort on the other side of the ball. The role players for Golden State matter, and none are more important than Green.

The 6-foot-6, 31-year-old is averaging a career-high 8.9 assists per game. That drastic increase has been because of his last several weeks, a stretch of games in which Green’s impact has been crucial for Golden State.

The Warriors went 11-4 over their last 15 games. Green, along with Curry and Wiggins, didn’t play the team’s second-to-last game against New Orleans. Aside from that game, Green has played in 14 of the team’s last 15.

In that stretch, he’s recorded 8.6 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 9.9 assists per game. He’s also shooting over 55 percent from the field. His improvement as a scorer and distributor is what’s taken this team to the next level, helping push them into a top-eight seed.

While Curry has also been going off to end the season, it’s been Green that’s helped propel this team to the next level. He’s been the catalyst on both ends of the court.

It’s even more impressive when you note he’s also only shooting 28 percent from three in that stretch. Green’s absent three-point shooting has been a mystery, but he’s finding a way to make an important even without it.

The Warriors are 3-7 when Green has under six assists. They just aren’t the same caliber team when he’s not as involved in the offense, and that’s something they need to make sure happens against the Lakers and well in the postseason.

Again, we all know it’ll be Curry that makes the magic happen, but for the Warriors to get anywhere, it’ll be players like Green and Andrew Wiggins that must step up and get involved more.