Draymond Green had quite the game against the Sacramento Kings on Thursday night at Chase Center, and the Warriors forward had a feeling that would be the case.
After leading Golden State in scoring during its 130-104 win with 23 points, including 4-of-7 shooting from deep, Green shared why his matchup with Sacramento big man Jonas Valančiūnas was instrumental to his scoring outburst.
"Definitely [feeling] more confident; the ball is moving and you've got several playmakers on the floor," Green said on Saturday's episode of "The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis." "So whereas you may not be ready to shoot, I'm ready to shoot because I know the ball's probably getting swung my way, and last night when I hit that first corner three, you know when you see that first one go in, you just feel better.
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"And, A, they have Valančiūnas on me, which I knew -- I told DeMar [DeRozan], I said, 'Y'all got him on me very early in the game.' I told DeMar, 'If y'all got him on me, I'm [going to] have a field day' because [Valančiūnas] can't move well enough. I'm in pretty good shape right now. He can't move well enough to keep up or guard the screen-and-roll or help in the paint, because they're top locking Steph [Curry], right? ...
"Let me just go find this corner and knock that first one down. See it go through. Feeling real good about yourself. But also, I know that [Valančiūnas] don't have a chance once the ball's swinging to me. He don't have a chance to close it out. I don't have to rush. I could just sit here and lock it in, and to see those first few go in, I found that rhythm."
The Kings' game plan certainly was to faceguard Curry, but that didn't stop him from making the 4,000th 3-pointer of his illustrious NBA career -- the first to ever do it -- despite scoring just 11 points. And Sacramento didn't account for Green, whose marksmanship from deep helped him lead Golden State in scoring for the first time in a game since 2016.
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Green certainly did have a field day against Valančiūnas and Co., shooting 8 of 14 overall with four rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block.
While the Warriors and Kings won't face off again during the 2024-25 NBA regular season, it's possible the No. 6-seeded Golden State and the No. 9-seeded Sacramento could see each other in the playoffs -- and perhaps Green will face a different matchup.