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Would your Los Angeles Lakers have fallen against the Golden State Warriors in the second round of this year's Western Conference playoffs had Draymond Green never punched Jordan Poole in the face during their preseason training camp?

That's Green's theory, anyway.

During an ESPN watch-along simulcast of a recent Western Conference Finals game with Stephen A. Smith, Green weighed in on why he believed the Warriors would have beaten the Lakers in their second round series.

"I absolutely think [we would still be playing] because I still think because I still think the fact of the matter is... I don't really think anyone could beat us, and I know we just lost -- I'm not taking anything away from the Los Angeles Lakers, they're competing at a high level, they're a good team," Green explained.

"We're not playing right now because, when you speak about the fouling, when you speak about all of the slippage that we had on the road as a team, not being able to come together, none of those things happen, if that [punch] doesn't happen," he continued.

Green went on to elaborate, saying that because he consciously stepped back as a leader after the incident, Golden State couldn't quite congeal as a collective unit.

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