It was all over the place in the Golden State Warriors‘ first round matchup against the Denver Nuggets. That is, Draymond Green’s genius was showing in nearly every facet of the game.
It was hard to miss for anyone paying attention. Throughout the course of the series, Green was barking orders and directing teammates into position for easy buckets.
Draymond Green’s mastery of the game was all over the place in the Golden State Warriors’ round one victory over Denver.
One instance came in the second half of Game 5 when Green noticed an early mismatch and commanded Andrew Wiggins to cut on the smaller Monte Morris. A feed into the paint led to a turnaround hook for Wiggins.
It happened again earlier in the series when Green directed rookie Jonathan Kuminga into the paint to abuse another mismatch.
There is a certain level of fluidity that is present when Draymond is on the floor. The ball is bouncing around as Green makes rapid-fire decisions to set screens, complete handoffs and roll to the basket.
Take Green’s role in an out-of-timeout play in Game 5, when Stephen Curry was blitzed on a screen and dished the ball to Draymond — who quickly turned to attack the basket before tossing up a lob for Kuminga.
It’s Draymond’s understanding of the game that makes these things possible. How about the numerous catch-and-relocate plays from Curry that almost always feature Green as the middle man?
Defense is more of the same. Despite Nikola Jokic being a world-beater on offense, Draymond masterfully blunted Jokic’s attacks by funneling him into difficult face-up shots rather than easy layups.
Green is also largely responsible for limiting Joker’s playmaking. In Game 5, for instance, Green managed to halt a drive to the basket from Jokic before darting back to the paint to tip a pass to Aaron Gordon, resulting in a runout for the Warriors.
Many things have changed since the Dubs last won a playoff series in the spring of 2019 — but Draymond’s brilliance certainly has not.