Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Draymond Green's Vow to Keep His Cool Helps Warriors Advance to in West Semis
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 1 hour ago on
May 6, 2025

Draymond Green's commitment to maintaining composure was pivotal in Golden State's Game 7 victory, setting up a challenging series against Minnesota. (GV Wire Composite/Paul Marshall)

Share

MINNEAPOLIS — During a team meeting the night before a win-or-go-home game for Golden State, Draymond Green had the floor.

The Warriors were in danger of wasting a 3-1 lead on Houston in the first round of the NBA playoffs, Green told them, because he lost his composure in a Game 6 loss at home.

The 12th-year defensive ace and opponent agitator then delivered his signature fire and a series-high 16 points — without blowing his top — in a blowout Game 7 win on the road to supplement superb performances by Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Buddy Hield that helped send Golden State into the second round to face Minnesota.

“People I trust the most, we had some heart-to-hearts after last game,” Green said after the 103-89 victory over the Rockets on Sunday. “My wife, one of my closest friends, Travis, my barber who’s one of my closest friends, coach (Tom) Izzo. I pouted way too much last game, so I spent the last two days embarrassed at what I gave to the game, at what I gave to the world.”

Green’s latest chance for redemption will come against Rudy Gobert and the Wolves, starting with Game 1 on Tuesday night. The Warriors are on the road again in this series, matching the No. 6 and No. 7 seeds in the mighty Western Conference after the well-rested Wolves bounced Luka Doncic, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in five games.

“They played their best basketball down the stretch and into the playoffs. They’re coming off of a really, really tough series, no doubt about it, but they showed what they’re made of in that series,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “They got us three times out of four this year, but we haven’t played them with the new-look roster. A lot of things to contemplate coming into this series. It’s definitely going to be a tough one for us.”

The Wolves give the Warriors plenty to ponder, too, starting with superstar guard Anthony Edwards.

“There’s a reason the Wolves are where they are now,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “They’ve put together a really good roster. Chris has done a fantastic job as coach, but they are where they are because Ant is a superstar. You have to have a guy like that to build a great team.”

Green vs. Gobert

Green, the four-time All-Star and four-time All-Defensive Team pick, always walks a fine line with how far to take his aggressive play. He hit Houston guard Jalen Green in the head and got a flagrant 1 foul in Game 6, one of those went-too-far moments.

The presence of Gobert will test Green in multiple ways in this series, starting on defense. The 7-foot-1 Gobert had 27 points and 24 rebounds in the Game 5 clincher against the undersized Lakers, and the Warriors can ill afford to allow such production around the rim. Gobert is a four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year winner, an award that Green has won once.

Then there’s the emotional factor. Green served a five-game suspension in November 2023 for putting Gobert in a headlock, a few weeks before receiving another suspension for hitting Jusuf Nurkic in the face against Phoenix. Green went to therapy for help with better controlling his temper.

“You’ve got to play basketball. I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of physicality, some of it certainly on the edge of legality,” Finch said. “Certainly there’s going to be a lot of things said on the floor, or outside the game itself. We’ve got folks who play basketball. That’s what we’ve got to do.”

‘Meaningful Basketball’

Both the Warriors and Wolves were furiously trying to avoid the play-in tournament down the stretch, and here they are with a spot in the Western Conference finals on the line. Golden State, which got a big boost from the acquisition of the six-time All-Star and clutch postseason performer Butler, finished one game below the cut but blew out Memphis to get the No. 7 seed.

“Steph talked about it: meaningful basketball,” Kerr said. “I say it all the time: ‘All we want is a chance.’ Every year you just want a chance. Jimmy came in here and gave us a chance. Our guys have done an incredible job flipping the season, advancing to this point. Now it’s up to us to go get it.”

Playoff Jimmy

Kerr has constantly shuffled his rotations this season, never more critically than in Game 3 when the Warriors played without Butler due to a pelvic injury and still won, but he’d prefer not to have to navigate that again.

“He’s a perfect fit because he never turns it over, and we have been a high turnover team in the past,” Kerr said. “We’ve always thrived when we’ve had guys next to Steph and Draymond who can stabilize the game, whether it was Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, David West, those type players, and Jimmy gives us that. So when the game needs to be settled down he settles it down. He’s got incredible confidence that I think fuels the rest of the guys. They believe in him but they also feel his belief in them.”

Boos for Butler

None of the Wolves, coaches or players, were around for Butler’s eventual 74 games with Minnesota from 2017-18. He helped the Wolves make the playoffs after a 14-year absence and became a pariah five months later by demanding a trade. Butler will surely be booed, even louder than Green, when he takes the floor at Target Center.

“There’s going to be a lot of buzz,” guard Mike Conley said. “That’s what people want to see.”

McCauley reported from San Francisco.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Anti-Israel Boycott Bill Withdrawn from Congressional Vote

DON'T MISS

Ravens Release Justin Tucker After Accusations by Massage Therapists of Inappropriate Behavior

DON'T MISS

Carney Meets Trump in Bid to Reset Strained Canada-US Relations

DON'T MISS

Draymond Green’s Vow to Keep His Cool Helps Warriors Advance to in West Semis

DON'T MISS

Ian Happ Homers as the Cubs Beat the Sloppy Giants

DON'T MISS

Ohtani and Freeman Homer off Alcántara as Dodgers Beat Marlins

DON'T MISS

That One Place Provides a Unique Karaoke Experience and Is ‘Good for the Soul’

DON'T MISS

Israel Hits Yemen’s Main Airport in Airstrike Against Houthis

DON'T MISS

Hanford Toddler Critical After Accidental Gunshot, Police Arrest Relative

DON'T MISS

Drone Strikes Pound Port Sudan, Putting Aid Deliveries at Risk

UP NEXT

Ravens Release Justin Tucker After Accusations by Massage Therapists of Inappropriate Behavior

UP NEXT

Carney Meets Trump in Bid to Reset Strained Canada-US Relations

UP NEXT

Draymond Green’s Vow to Keep His Cool Helps Warriors Advance to in West Semis

UP NEXT

Ian Happ Homers as the Cubs Beat the Sloppy Giants

UP NEXT

Ohtani and Freeman Homer off Alcántara as Dodgers Beat Marlins

UP NEXT

That One Place Provides a Unique Karaoke Experience and Is ‘Good for the Soul’

UP NEXT

Israel Hits Yemen’s Main Airport in Airstrike Against Houthis

UP NEXT

Hanford Toddler Critical After Accidental Gunshot, Police Arrest Relative

UP NEXT

Drone Strikes Pound Port Sudan, Putting Aid Deliveries at Risk

UP NEXT

Europe Launches $566M Program to Lure US Researchers Amid Trump Cuts

Draymond Green’s Vow to Keep His Cool Helps Warriors Advance to in West Semis

1 hour ago

Ian Happ Homers as the Cubs Beat the Sloppy Giants

1 hour ago

Ohtani and Freeman Homer off Alcántara as Dodgers Beat Marlins

1 hour ago

That One Place Provides a Unique Karaoke Experience and Is ‘Good for the Soul’

1 hour ago

Israel Hits Yemen’s Main Airport in Airstrike Against Houthis

2 hours ago

Hanford Toddler Critical After Accidental Gunshot, Police Arrest Relative

2 hours ago

Drone Strikes Pound Port Sudan, Putting Aid Deliveries at Risk

2 hours ago

Europe Launches $566M Program to Lure US Researchers Amid Trump Cuts

2 hours ago

This Is the Moment of Moral Reckoning in Gaza

2 hours ago

Buy American? No Thanks, Europe Says, as Tariff Backlash Grows.

3 hours ago

Anti-Israel Boycott Bill Withdrawn from Congressional Vote

A controversial bill that would have penalized Americans for boycotting Israel was removed from the congressional voting schedule Monday fol...

16 minutes ago

16 minutes ago

Anti-Israel Boycott Bill Withdrawn from Congressional Vote

50 minutes ago

Ravens Release Justin Tucker After Accusations by Massage Therapists of Inappropriate Behavior

U.S. President Donald Trump greets Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 6, 2025. (REUTERS/Kent Nishimura)
59 minutes ago

Carney Meets Trump in Bid to Reset Strained Canada-US Relations

1 hour ago

Draymond Green’s Vow to Keep His Cool Helps Warriors Advance to in West Semis

1 hour ago

Ian Happ Homers as the Cubs Beat the Sloppy Giants

1 hour ago

Ohtani and Freeman Homer off Alcántara as Dodgers Beat Marlins

1 hour ago

That One Place Provides a Unique Karaoke Experience and Is ‘Good for the Soul’

Smoke billows after an Israeli airstrike on Houthi infrastructure, in Sana'a, Yemen May 6, 2025. (REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah)
2 hours ago

Israel Hits Yemen’s Main Airport in Airstrike Against Houthis

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend