Sixers' Joel Embiid Praised Warriors' Draymond Green for his Defense

The Golden State Warriors aren't exactly who they used to be. The team that used to always sit atop the Western Conference rankings is currently placed in ninth with a 29-29 record on the year. Sure, Klay Thompson's absence due to injury has something to do with that.

And the loss of Kevin Durant in free agency can't be forgotten as well. Regardless of who they don't have, the Warriors still have some of the key players from their previous championship runs on board in Steph Curry and Draymond Green.

While Curry is still cooking like an MVP candidate, the other champion Draymond Green has taken a few steps back offensively these days as he averages just six points-per-game on that side of the ball.

From 2014 to 2018, Green was good for putting up double-digits in every game. These days, his offense just isn't the same. However, the same can't be said about his defense. While he's no longer a regular in the Defensive Player of the Year conversation, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid recently made it clear that Green's still got it defensively.

"He's a great defender," Embiid said on Monday night. "There's nothing I can take away from him. He's a great one-on-one defender; he's a great team defender. You know, he's very smart and knows how to position himself on the court. There were a few times where he was guarding Matisse, and they kept trying to feed me the ball, and they just couldn't just because of the way we were faced and also because of (Draymond's) intelligence."

While Embiid made it clear that the Warriors "never guarded" him one on one following Monday night's loss to Golden State, he couldn't help but credit Green for a job well done on the defensive end. Coming into the game, Embiid averaged roughly 30 points per game. Against the Warriors, he shot just 8-21 from the field, scoring 28 points and turning the ball over four times.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_ & Instagram: @JGrassoNBA.