Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, the yin and yang of the Warriors

There was no panic in the voice and words of Stephen Curry and Draymond Green Thursday night. Despite a completely botched last quarter that allowed the Celtics to take control of the series with authority, the two Warriors leaders were calm. They were again at practice on Saturday. They were so calm that one wondered if it was just a facade.

But both players were not born yesterday. This is their sixth NBA Finals together. They’ve been through all types of playoff scenarios. They’ve seen and beaten all types of opponents. So this calmness is not just posturing. Their experience allows them to have some perspective on this first setback when many saw the Warriors in great danger.

A contagious calm

Stephen Curry and Draymond Green are also aware that most of their teammates do not have the same experience as them. As the power forward said after the Finals, the young players are following his lead. If he plays with confidence, the rest of the squad will do the same. If he remains unmoved after a heartbreaking loss, his team will learn from him and Stephen Curry.

This calmness, however, hides a determination. Stephen Curry even admitted that he didn’t sleep well after the Game 1 loss. Draymond Green was in the self-criticism. Instead of letting their frustration consume them, the two acolytes redoubled their intensity, rigor and calmness to lead the Warriors to an impressive victory with strength and mastery.

” Steph Curry sets the tone on offense, and it’s up to me to do the same on defense, and I wanted to make sure we started the game the best way possible, ” said Draymond Green, who took the ball out of Al Horford’s hands on the game’s first possession to force a turnover.

Curry wasn’t surprised. He knew before anyone else that the Green tornado was coming.

” Five minutes into Game 1, ” he said. That’s when he knew.” Just by what he had said and what he had shown. He knew what he had to do. Those kinds of things don’t necessarily show up on the stat sheet, but you feel his presence, his intensity. So does the opponent, and it’s contagious.”

Draymond Green and defensive intensity

Kenny Atkinson had told us in half a whisper on Saturday: the Warriors were happy with their game plan, except for some tactical adjustments and especially a need to be tougher, more physical, and more intense. ” We needed to be more focused and play the role of the aggressor, and I think we have it from the first minutes, ” confirmed Steve Kerr. ” Draymond has been huge for us in that area.”

One adjustment was to put Draymond Green on Jaylen Brown and shift Klay Thompson to Al Horford. That tactical choice neutralized the Dominican pivot, who took only four shots, none of them 3-pointers. If Brown started strong, scoring 4 of his first 6 shots, Green’s intensity eventually wore him down.

” Draymond set the tone with his physical aggression on Jaylen Brown,” said Kevon Looney. ” He set the fire on defense. And when he does that, everyone follows. We couldn’t go into Boston down 2-0, it was a big game for us, and everybody stepped up,” said Gary Payton II, back in Golden State’s rotation for the first time since breaking his elbow in Game 2 against Memphis.

As a leader, however, Green was quick to point out the effort his teammates put forth on that end of the court. Looney, Wiggins, Payton, Curry, and even Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole, who were struggling with their shooting, all rose to the challenge.

” Everyone got tougher. It wasn’t just me, it was everyone. If I’m the only one who’s more intense, it’s not going to work,” he summarized. “It was a team effort. The guys were willing to come in and help and they held their one-on-one.”

That defensive performance really took off in the second quarter. The Warriors limited Boston to 20 points on 7-of-24 shooting. The offense then followed after the break to help them take the lead.

Stephen Curry, the maestro

Since the beginning of the series and despite a defense constantly focused on him, Stephen Curry manages to find the gaps to make Marcus Smart’s aggressiveness and assists pay when he attacks the rack. While Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole were off in the first half, Curry managed to score 15 points while playing fair.

” He was unbelievable in his decision making. He played without the ball. He didn’t get into traffic. He took what the defense gave him. In the first six minutes, he was down 0 points, but he wasn’t forcing anything,” Draymond Green said. ” He let the game come to him and we all followed his lead.”

That patience turned into a minimal number of loose balls for Stephen Curry (2), but also for the rest of his teammates (12 in total). The two-time MVP stepped up his game in the third quarter and the pressure he put on the Celtics’ defense eventually cracked their defense.

” Steph was breathtaking in that third quarter, ” said Steve Kerr after the game. Like Draymond Green, he preferred to put his performance into perspective, preferring to blame his experience and a perfect knowledge of his role and the influence he has on the game of his team.

” This season, I have to be aggressive throughout the game. I have to create, I have to get attention, I have to get shots, and more than anything else I have to continue to put pressure on the defense, ” he explained. ” Since the beginning of the series, when I’ve been doing what I need to do, we’ve either gotten good shots or the ball keeps moving and it’s helped our offense get going, especially tonight. And when we take good shots, don’t lose the ball, it helps our defense. We’ll see how it develops on the road, but so far it’s working well. ”

That’s exactly what happened in the third quarter. The Warriors looked, more than usual, for advantageous matchups allowing him to attack Robert Williams or Al Horford. The two-time MVP led the way for the entire quarter, scoring 14 points including three jump shots that allowed Golden State to put the Celtics’ head under water as they tried to stay in ambush.

“He knows that at times he has to sacrifice his shots to find us, and tonight he found the perfect balance”

Despite all the trophies and records gleaned by the Warriors’ point guard, he is still underestimated. Unlike a LeBron James or a Giannis Antetokounmpo, there is a recipe to slow Curry down. The Grizzlies, Cavs, and many others have shown that by being extremely physical with him and trying to trap him with bigs, he can have some waste. The Celtics have the perfect roster to implement that kind of strategy, yet Curry continues to put his stamp on this series.

” It’s not new. Our opponents have been trying to defend him like this for years, and we know how to approach it, ” Kevon Looney sighed. ” He’s much stronger than he used to be. He’s in rhythm. He knows that at times he has to sacrifice his shots to find us, and tonight he found the perfect balance.”

With a different roster than in previous years and Klay Thompson struggling after two games, Stephen Curry is using the experience he’s stored up over the past two seasons to find the right balance for the good of the team.

“It’ s an accumulation of the last two years and understanding that this balance is different, ” he explains. ” Scoring, creating, I’m trying to stay in control, be calm, read the game, feel the rhythm of the game, and play accordingly. I can use all the experience I gained between 2015 and 2019, and in his last two years to make the right choices. ”

Curry – Green, a complementary duo

Through Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, the Warriors are sure of their strength. They know their identity, they set the standard for the rest of their teammates to follow. The calm projected after Game 1, the determination shared before Game 2, and that intensity and focus shown tonight served as a barometer for Golden State.

” Nobody panicked. Everyone was on the same page, and we knew that if we played our game, we could take control of the series. We haven ‘t done that yet, but we’ve put ourselves in a position to do that, and that’s what’s important, ” finished Draymond Green, referring to the need to win one of the next two games in Boston to regain home court advantage. “It was up to me to send that message. And the guys followed through, especially on defense. If I don’t send that message, who can? ”

Stephen Curry and Draymond Green are the yin and yang of Golden State. The way they lead their troops is complementary. Curry is the quiet force, leading by example every day without needing to talk much. Green brings the emotional side. He is the fire, the soul of the team. They know each other inside and out, and that chemistry has made the Warriors nearly unbeatable for the past eight years.

” We could have put Draymond on Coach Udoka, and the way he started the game, it would have been a game changer,” Curry laughs.

Smiles were the order of the day after the Game 2 win, but they quickly gave way to a familiar calm. Stephen Curry and Draymond Green are on a mission, and the rest of the Warriors are at attention.

Interview in San Francisco.