The NBA ratings might be down, but Draymond Green taking on Rudy Gobert is a must-see TV. And it didn’t disappoint as the Dubs madman provided a highlight reel moment that’ll end up in the season finale montage. But we only got to see the Night Night Celly after the smashing dunk. How did it turn out that way? Well, Draymond is here to provide you with the answer.

Had it not been for the provocations, Draymond might not have even gone for the dunk, the man himself confessed on The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis. “He (Gobert) kept throwing elbows at me, bro. I was chilling. I was trying to cause no issues. And he kept throwing elbows at me, bro,” the 34-year-old told his co-host, Baron Davis.

Disclosing the entire scenario, Draymond said, “So we go to the timeout, and Seth Cooper tells me, like, yo, you should get it and go. And, like you gonna have Rudy on you. And so I’m like, alright.” However, he was hesitant to convey it to head coach Steve Kerr. “But I ain’t about to say that to Steve. Like, yo, Steve, give me the ball,” Dray added.

When Kerr’s plan to not utilize Draymond in the offense didn’t work in their favor, the player development coach reached out to the HC. “You should give Dray like, get a ball to Draymond. He gonna have Rudy on him. He can just set the offense,” the 4-time mentioned, recalling what Copper told kerr. With the T’Wolves pressuring the Warriors, Cooper emphasized that Draymond can set the offense.

Once Kerr agreed to play Draymond in the offense, Green confidently took charge. As Stephen Curry started dropping, Draymond knew he had to capitalize on the opportunity, and it resulted in a bang.

Draymond Green seals the Warriors-Timberwolves show with an electrifying dunk

Who could forget the Green-Gobert altercation last season, with Draymond choking the Wolves center and later receiving a 5-game suspension? Since then, the atmosphere between the two has been tense. Now that the duo met again, Draymond made an effort to stay on his best behavior, knowing that any misstep could impact the Warriors and their title-contending chances. But the 4x DPOY was pushing him hard, so Draymond had to react, not with his physicality, but with his gameplay.

With less than 30 seconds left on the clock, Draymond crossed over the Frenchman and delivered a magnificently powerful dunk. “I just took the rub, rub screen,” Dray told Davis. “Steph set a great screen. And I turned that mug over.” And the best part of the moment came when he immediately celebrated with Curry’s classic “Night Night” gesture, and the creator couldn’t have been prouder.

Draymond admitted that he did the celebration thinking a foul had been called on Jaden McDaniels for pushing him hard, as he couldn’t hear over the loud cheers of the Chase Center crowd. However, he soon realized that there was no foul and the game was still in play. Finally, as the buzzer sounded in the final seconds, the Warriors were declared the winners with a 114-106 score. Draymond Green’s 6-6-7 stat line might not have been the most impressive, but his dunk certainly stole the show.

The Warriors have suffered 9 losses so far and part of that can be blamed on the lack of offensive production from Draymond. If Kerr had made that adjustment earlier, we might have witnessed more highlight-worthy moments from Draymond. Now, perhaps Kerr could consider letting him handle the offense more when facing heavily defensive opponents.