Warriors veteran puts enormous pressure on himself with playoff no-show

Draymond Green's heroics were well celebrated in the aftermath of Game 4, with the veteran forward delivering a clutch defensive stop on Alperun Sengun that gave the Golden State Warriors a crucial 109-106 victory.

Yet it was a completely different story in Game 5 at Toyota Center on Wednesday, with Green and fellow veterans Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler failing to show up in what resulted as a 131-116 defeat.

Draymond Green has put enormous pressure on himself to deliver in Game 6

While Curry, Butler and the Golden State offense struggled throughout the first-half, it was the defensive end where the visitors found their biggest trouble. The Rockets posted 76 points by half-time in a dominant display, shooting nearly 70% from the floor and 60% from 3-point range to build a 27-point lead the Warriors could never recover from.

As the greatest defender of his generation and the leader on that end of the floor, Green is personally liable for much of the damage that was inflicted upon his team. The 35-year-old's lacked of focus and intensity was obvious in the opening moments and ultimately flowed through the entirety of his 18 minutes.

Within the first 40 seconds of the game, Green needlessly reached out and grabbed Jalen Green as the Rockets guard looked to drive towards the lane. For someone who'd just missed so much of Game 4 due to foul trouble, you would have thought he'd be much more intent on playing smarter defense without such carelessness.

While that in itself didn't send Houston to the line, it set in motion three team fouls within the first two minutes and a first-quarter where the hosts shot 13 free-throws (making all of them) to Golden State's zero.

That was a fact Steve Kerr bemoaned in his post-game press conference, with the head coach putting some of the blame on himself for the team's rough performance.

"Yeah I didn't have them ready to play clearly," Kerr said. "We can't come out with that lack of defensive focus and energy and expect to beat a great team on their home floor in a closeout game."

Had Green and the Warriors come out with anything close to what they've shown as the league's best defense since the trade for Jimmy Butler, then perhaps the Rockets only put up 60 first-half points and the visitors put themselves in a more manageable position down 10-12 instead of 27.

After the defensive play on Sengun that helped the Warriors to a 3-1 lead, Green is afforded this poor performance without too much concern. However, it does put he and his fellow veteran stars under enormous pressure to deliver at home in Game 6 on Friday and avoid a potential Game 7 back in Houston on Sunday.

Fortunately Green is no stranger to the pressure of big moments, though he'll need to lead the Warrior defense back to far greater excellence if they want to close the series on Friday night.