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USA Today via Reuters

USA Today via Reuters

The Golden State Warriors recently faced off against the San Antonio Spurs. As Stephen Curry attempted to make a formidable effort on the offensive side, he was assisted on the defensive by his teammate and power forward Draymond Green. Despite his disappointing performances in the last two games, Green came out on top this time by delivering 21 points, 6 rebounds, and 11 assists.

During the post-game press conference, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr discussed Green’s recent effort by calling it a “defensive masterpiece”.

“He anticipated the whole play,” said Kerr. “It’s part of Draymond’s genius. It’s just, he just seems to be a half step ahead of everybody”.

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Steve Kerr’s comments highlighted just how grateful he was to have Draymond Green on his roster. The same opinion, however, was not something that the coach seemed to be possessing just a few days ago.

During the Warriors’ recent game against the Orlando Magic, Green questioned the validity of two separate foul calls and received two technical fouls in the process. When he wouldn’t back down even then, the player was ejected by the referee from the whole game. While Stephen Curry’s on-court emotions were enough to highlight the disappointment felt by the Warriors, Steve Kerr didn’t hesitate to address this. During an interview on the ’95.7 The Game’ podcast, he talked about the visible emotions on Curry’s face by stating that while everyone was attempting to do their best, the 34-year-old did not have it in himself to stay out of trouble for at least a few moments.

“It was really unforgivable” said Kerr. “And I think Steph may have been a little upset with himself for not pulling Draymond out of there but I think mostly it was just, come on, man.”

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Golden State Warriors vs San Antonio Spurs Match Player Stats

According to Statmuse, Green’s 21 points is the second-highest that he has scored this season, while his 11 assists rank in the fourth position. The last time that the player had managed to reach such a statistic was back in January 2018. Green’s offensive effort was interlinked with his impressive shooting ability, as the 34-year-old went 8/9 in terms of field goals and 2/2 in terms of his three-pointers.

While Green definitely came out on top, the franchise’s lead scorer Stephen Curry also didn’t disappoint. Going way above his average, the 10x NBA All-Star ended up adding a whopping 33 points to the Warriors’ overall score. Curry’s performance was a welcome sight since he had only gone above 30 in two of the last nine games. Despite setting a memorable example, the rest of Curry’s teammates failed to follow his lead, going way below the average they had set during the ongoing season. Klay Thompson only managed to score 13, while the team’s star rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis could only add 7. There was some improvement from Brandin Podziemski’s side, as his 12 points were significantly more than the 5.75 average he had scored during the previous four games.

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The points total accumulated by Green and Curry helped to give the Warriors the push they needed and allowed them to win the game by a score of 117-113. Knowing the precarious position that the franchise finds itself in at the moment, the win helped bring the team just a little bit closer towards qualifying for the playoffs.

READ MORE: Draymond Green Cut Down On Alcohol For Warriors’ 3-Peat Run Amidst Severe Media Scrutiny