SAN FRANCISCO – Winning isn’t going to be easy for the Warriors when Draymond Green has three times as many fouls (six) as points (two), and more turnovers (five) than rebounds (two) and assists (four). His stats weren’t pretty.
Neither was the eye test in the Warriors’ 102-97 Game 3 Western Conference semifinals loss Saturday night at Chase Center. But both the stats and the nature of the game also showed how much he means to this team. His final three fouls were a brutal blow.
The Warriors led by three points halfway through the third quarter when he was called for a controversial fourth call. They were down by two when he fouled out with four minutes and 38 seconds left in the game, which led to two free throws for Jaden McDaniels – two makes – and the Warriors lost by five points.
During, and after the game, the Warriors didn’t agree with how he got those final three fouls. Steve Kerr challenged the fourth one. Green’s fifth was assessed during a review that he wasn’t part of it, and they felt like his sixth was soft.
“Yeah, we felt pretty strongly that the one on,” Kerr said about challenging the fourth foul called on Green. “I think it was his fourth on the block, it looked like [Julius Randle] went through his chest, so we felt pretty good about challenging and plus, it was his fourth. But obviously we didn’t get the call and that’s part of the game. Randle was great, and yeah, the foul trouble.
“The sixth one was a tough one. That didn’t feel great looking at the replay, but it is what it is, and they outplayed us in the fourth and they deserved to win.”
Green was called for a block by Scott Foster at the 6:46 mark of the third quarter on a play where Randle seemed to extend his left arm. It wasn’t even Green’s reaction that made Kerr challenge the foul. His coaching staff was sure the officiating crew would see why Green went flying to the floor. Foster didn’t agree.
Kevon Looney then replaced Green because of his foul trouble. The Timberwolves saw a Thanksgiving dinner. They started feasting at the rim. It wasn’t all because Looney was in, but even more so because Green wasn’t.
The Timberwolves attempted five straight layups, and made three. All three were made by Anthony Edwards, who got comfortable and went on a heater once Draymond took a seat with four fouls. Every shot involved Looney.
Clearly, the Timberwolves were at more ease with Green off the floor, and then in foul trouble.
“Obviously, he’s one of the top defenders in the world,” Jimmy Butler said. “For sure the best defender on this squad. You know, when he’s out, it is just different. You don’t got nobody back there that’s quarterbacking the way that he does it, that can switch everything, and that can get every loose ball and that can rebound.
“Even whenever he comes out, we’ve still got to be better.”
Buddy Hield shared his frustration with how Green was officiated in the loss. The Warriors overall were called for 24 fouls, one more than the Timberwolves, and each team attempted exactly 21 free throws.
“There was an offensive foul,” Hield said. “I just don’t understand the rules. Draymond is an all-world defensive player. The guy put a forearm in his chest. I’ve seen referee challenge and it was automatic. They don’t take that long. I feel like they were debating it too long on the challenge and reviewing it and going over time and trying to figure out what’s the right call.
“I just know that everything just didn’t go our way today, and that’s how the game is. We don’t want no excuses. We don’t want nobody to feel sorry for us, but nothing went his way today, picking up a foul on McDaniels, and his hand is on the ball. We didn’t get calls.
“It is what it is. That’s the fun part about it. Just got to figure it out, and we’re down 2-1, we just got to weather the storm.”
On Green’s fifth foul, Jonathan Kuminga beat his man off the dribble and Julius Randle was called for a blocking foul. Randle right away told Minnesota’s coaching staff to challenge the call and was tugging at his jersey. Upon review, Green was called for an offensive foul for holding onto Randle’s jersey, something the veteran forward basically predicted.
That was a whole 18 seconds before Green’s sixth foul, a call that had him flabbergasted running down the sidelines. Green and the Warriors thought he had great positioning on Jaden McDaniels’ dunk attempt. Draymond didn’t think he touched him at all, and for the final four and a half minutes the Warriors didn’t have him in a game Kerr said pregame they had to win with their defense.
Edwards in the 18-plus minutes he played after Green’s fourth foul scored 25 of his 36 points. Before that fourth foul, Edwards was a minus-12 with 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting. After, he was 9 of 15 and a plus-8.
Randle scored 15 points and was a plus-4 in the 24 minutes he played prior to Green’s fourth foul, but he also was 6 of 16 from the field. He played 16-plus minutes after and was a plus-10 with nine points, made four of his seven shots, had seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals. That’s part of the Draymond Effect, even when he’s having a subpar overall game to his standards.
While Butler and Kuminga combined to score 63 points for the Warriors, Edwards and Randle scored 60 points, with 34 of them from Green’s fourth foul to the rest of their series-shifting Game 3 win.
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