Feb 20

CHA100
LAL97
Final

Feb 21

MEM36-18
IND30-23
FDSM @12:00 AM UTC
BOS39-16
PHI20-34
TNT @12:00 AM UTC
ORL27-29
ATL26-29
FDSE @12:30 AM UTC
CLE44-10
BKN20-34
FDOH @12:30 AM UTC
CHI22-33
NYK36-18
CHSN @12:30 AM UTC
LAC31-23
MIL29-24
FDSC @1:00 AM UTC
CHA14-39
DEN36-19
FDCH @2:00 AM UTC
PHX26-28
SAS23-29
TNT @2:30 AM UTC
LAL32-21
POR23-32
KUNP @3:00 AM UTC

Feb 22

GSW28-27
SAC28-27
NBCSBAY @3:00 AM UTC
MIL29-24
WAS9-45
FDWI @12:00 AM UTC
NYK36-18
CLE44-10
ESPN @12:00 AM UTC
MEM36-18
ORL27-29
FDFL @12:00 AM UTC
MIA25-28
TOR17-38
SUN @12:30 AM UTC
NOP13-42
DAL30-26
KFAA @1:30 AM UTC
DET29-26
SAS23-29
FDDT @1:30 AM UTC
OKC44-10
UTA13-41
FDOK @2:30 AM UTC
MIN31-25
HOU34-21
ESPN @2:30 AM UTC
PHX26-28
CHI22-33
KTVK @10:00 PM UTC

Feb 23

BKN20-34
PHI20-34
NBCSP @12:30 AM UTC
LAL32-21
DEN36-19
ABC @1:30 AM UTC
HOU34-21
UTA13-41
SCHN @2:30 AM UTC
CHA14-39
POR23-32
KUNP @3:00 AM UTC
NYK36-18
BOS39-16
ABC @6:00 PM UTC
DAL30-26
GSW28-27
ABC @8:30 PM UTC
LAC31-23
IND30-23
FDSC @10:00 PM UTC
DET29-26
ATL26-29
FDSE @11:00 PM UTC
PHX26-28
TOR17-38
KTVK @11:00 PM UTC
WAS9-45
ORL27-29
FDFL @11:00 PM UTC
MIA25-28
MIL29-24
SUN @11:00 PM UTC

Draymond's All-Star return part of his bigger two-year plan

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Draymond Green was ecstatic to prove the doubters wrong this season and couldn’t be prouder of himself for being named to his fourth NBA All-Star team.

SAN FRANCISCO -- For the first half of his 30-plus minutes talking with the media Thursday, Draymond Green was exclusively asked about his back injury and how the Warriors have looked without him. He said he ideally would love to return in three to four weeks. He cautioned that if he doesn't return by then, that doesn't mean there's a problem. He found countless positives to take away from the experience.

It was as if he wasn't just named to the NBA All-Star Game for the fourth time in his career. Once he was asked about the honor, court was in session. Green had the ball -- or microphone in this case -- and this was when we learned of his grand two-year plan. 

"It is a special thing," Green said. "It's a very special thing, because two years ago, I had probably the worst season of my basketball career, including my first year ever playing in first grade, I kind of made a goal of this two-year plan of how can I get back to being an All-Star?

"The reality is, that year I was so terrible and I was so out of it and drained and exhausted -- I don't believe in cutting corners, I don't believe it ever works when you do cut corners, so I didn't make a goal of being an All-Star last year."

Draymond already has admitted he wasn't interested in the 2019-20 season. Klay Thompson was out for the year with a torn ACL. The Warriors had just gone to five straight Finals and the Kevin Durant era came to an end in tiresome fashion. Steph Curry then broke his hand four games into the season and the Warriors wound up with the worst record in the NBA. 

Though he did average 8.0 points per game, his 6.2 rebounds per game were his lowest since his second season in the league and his 6.2 assists per game were his lowest since his first season as a starter. His defensive rating was the worst of his career. His offensive rating was his worst since his second year as a pro and his minus-0.2 Box Plus-Minus was his worst since his rookie year. 

A change needed to be made. The Warriors do-it-all star had to start with Step 1. He couldn't put All-Star or any other accolades on his to-do list.

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First, he had to get back to being himself. Everything else has been the domino effect of one of the game's great competitors putting in the work. 

"I made a goal to get back to playing good basketball last year, re-establish being Draymond Green as a basketball player, as a brand -- that was my goal going into last year in hopes that that would lead me going into an Olympics, which I did -- won a gold medal -- and then coming into this season in shape, which I did, in hopes that that would possibly lead me to an All-Star appearance and that would lead me to another Defensive Player of the Year trophy and then ultimately leading us to another championship," Green said.

"Up until this point, I have executed that plan to the T. I still think I can execute the last two things of it, and that's my goal."

Back to being as focused as ever, Green made the All-Defensive First Team last season for the first time since the 2016-17 season -- the same season he won Defensive Player of the Year. He won his second Olympic gold, and until his back injury that has kept him out for nearly a month, he looked to be playing his very best basketball. 

Over the offseason, Green told his trainer Travis Walton that would be an All-Star this season. Walton believed. He told his family the same thing. They believed. He even told his team at Converse to get ready because he was going to be an All-Star. Green won't play in the game because of his injury, but you can damn well bet Converse has something special planned. 

When the news was announced that Green was an All-Star reserve, Raymond Ridder, the Warriors' senior vice president of communications, asked him if he could have imagined being a four-time All-Star when he was eight years old. Draymond didn't need to think back that far. The 31-year-old saw himself playing his worst basketball two years ago and questioned if he'd ever be an All-Star again. 

He heard the outside noise, all of it. Green even felt a moment of self-doubt, though he never stopped believing. Now, he has checked a big box off his much bigger two-year plan. 

"I was at 29 years old and didn't know how I'd become an All-Star again," Green said. "But I knew that If I was going to, it would start with me putting my head down and working the same way I put my head down and worked to become an All-Star the first time. So I'm not gonna sit here and lie and act like it's no big deal, it's a really big deal. And in part due to a lot of people counting me out, saying I was washed up, saying I can't shoot and the game's passed me and this, that and the other -- like, no.

"I am an All-Star and me making this All-Star Game doesn't make me an All-Star -- I've been an All-Star -- but I'm happy to prove it again, because a lot of people doubted me and to be honest with you, at times it made me feel like I doubt myself. But I never stopped believing in myself. So I'm extremely excited and it feels really good. It feels really good." 

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Don't forget about those final two goals. Green came into this season making it loud and clear he was gunning for his second Defensive Player of the Year award. A big reason why is he feels he was robbed of it in 2014-15 by Kawhi Leonard, who missed 18 games.

Green now has missed 19 games this season, not including his seven seconds of Klay's return. He'll miss a handful more, too. To him, that shouldn't matter. It's clear who has been the best defensive player in the league this season, and that player intends to be even better when he returns. 

"I just gotta get back and be dominant," Green said. "Because one thing that's for certain, there's no one who's played better defense than me this year. And if I hadn't got hurt, I would have won it by a landslide.

"So now I just need to come back and win it."

A fourth All-Star honor? Check. Now it's just time for a second Defensive Player of the Year and a fourth championship ring for this two-year plan to be complete. 

Never doubt a determined Draymond Green.

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