Early Finals MVP favorite Draymond Green is everything the Cavs are missing
Green embodies everything the Warriors have, and everything the Cavs don't.
By
Matt Moore
•
3 min read
Draymond Green is running wild.
Now that he's here in the NBA Finals vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Golden State Warriors forward is free of all the burden he felt vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder in the conference finals and is absolutely wrecking things. Green finished with 28 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and hit 5-of-8 from 3-point range in the Warriors' 110-77 massacre of the Cavs' dignity Sunday night. The Warriors outscored the Cavs by 20 points with Green on the floor.
Green has always been the heart and soul of this Warriors team since he burst into the starting lineup three years ago. He's added skill, versatility, and experience to make himself an All-Star, and he's shown every bit of it vs. the Cavaliers, who have zero matchups for him. Green is blocking shots at the rim, snagging loose balls with quick hands, throwing outlet passes, and then finishing.
The Cavs dared him to shoot in Games 1 and 2, which is an appropriate strategy. Shots from Green beyond the arc are better than shots from Stephen Curry or Klay Thompson. You want to play the averages and make Green beat you as a shooter.
He did.
He also beat the Cavaliers as a driver, passer, rebounder, and as the hustle and energy player. Green has established himself alongside Andre Iguodala as a favorite to win Finals MVP, over even Curry or Thompson, who have remained relatively quiet. Curry's relative silence (just 18 points though he shot a much-better 7 of 11 from the field in Game 2, he just wasn't needed) only underscores the story of these Finals so far. The Warriors and Cavaliers aren't two close teams with the Warriors overcoming Cleveland thanks to individual star brilliance; they're better in every category, and Green is a key function in many of those areas.
"Draymond does everything for us," Steve Kerr said after the game, which, at this point, pretty much goes without saying.
Kerr knows better than anyone. He has battled with Green's emotion, and the balancing act between Green's aggression in scoring situations vs. being the all-around key has been a source of contention between the two. But Kerr knows the Warriors aren't the unstoppable juggernaut they are without Green, which is why he gets such a long leash.
From a second-round tweener, to a surprising rotation player, to an energetic x-factor, to an underrated playmaker, to an All-Star engine for arguably the best team in NBA history, Green's rise is much like the Warriors' rise. Unpredictable, unforeseeable, electric, and thrilling all at once. He flexed on the Cavaliers as he has in several of their meetings since they first faced off last June. He's been talking trash at LeBron James since his rookie season. He's everywhere vs. the Cavs. On the floor, in their face, in their heads. His presence will be on their team plane and follow them to sleep. Draymond Green is haunting the Cavs with that taunting Cheshire Cat smile of his, all the way to what looks like two straight Finals victories over the team so many expected greatness from in Cleveland.
While the Cavaliers struggle to find any matchup that can work, and find the additional help they were supposed to have this year, even before Kevin Love went down with a concussion in Game 3, there's an odd cruelty to Green's prominence in this series. The Cavaliers need a more versatile power forward who can defend, rebound, make plays, hit 3-pointers, be an emotional catalyst and give the Cavaliers a mental edge in energy and focus.
Basically, the Cavaliers need the guy that is currently killing them.
The problem with that is, everyone needs a Draymond Green, but there's only one, and he's carried the Warriors to 87 wins -- just two shy of consecutive NBA championships.
Draymond Green is running wild, and the Cavaliers have little recourse but to watch the show.
