Victor Wembanyama didn't have to do much offensively against the Golden State Warriors on Friday night, but his defensive excellence was on full display as the visitors were kept to 85 points on 33.3% shooting from the floor.
Wembanyama sagged off Draymond Green and roamed around the paint stalking any Warrior ball-handler who dared enter. It exposed Green's reliance on Stephen Curry who will miss multiple weeks due to a torn oblique suffered against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.
Victor Wembanyama exposes Draymond Green's reliance on Stephen Curry
Green has been a non-scoring threat for years, but he and the Warriors have often been able to overcome that because of his chemistry with Curry and the sheer threat of the two-time MVP as the greatest shooter of all-time.
Green can simply play at the top of the key in dribble handoff situations, or be the screen-setter in a more traditional pick-and-roll scenario. In either action, opposing centers like Wembanyama have to come up to the level of the screen or are left paying the price of Curry stepping into an open three. If they do step up, Curry can often just toss the ball over to Green on the roll who can use his smarts and playmaking in 4-on-3 scenarios going downhill.
But without Curry, Golden State don't have that shooting threat and Green subsequently becomes almost completely useless on the offensive end. Wembanyama and the Spurs simply didn't care about Warrior ball-handlers navigating around a Green screen and stepping into threes.
There's no coincidence that LJ Cryer was the most effective offensive player on the night for the Warriors. The two-way contracted guard went 6-of-11 from three-point range for a career-high 20 points, but the hosts also understood they weren't going to get beaten by an end of roster player who'd entered playing less than 70 minutes on the season.
Warriors have to find a way to make Draymond Green effective
Green can often be a net negative on the offensive end even with Curry, but he looked downright unplayable on Friday night and the Warrior offense suffered as a result. The good news is that they won't be facing Wembanyama every night, yet it could easily remain an issue over this stretch without Curry.
Steve Kerr, the coaching staff and Green himself need to find a way for the veteran forward to be effective offensively, otherwise his defensive capabilities simply won't be worth Golden State playing 4-on-5 on the other end.
It's also incredibly important for Green given this period will then coincide with him becoming trade-eligible on December 15, with the franchise legend still playing for his future with the Warriors to some degree.
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