Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Draymond Green Breaks Down Late-Game Steal on Nikola Jokic
Draymond Green made perhaps the biggest defensive play of the Warriors’ Game 3 win Thursday night.
In a game that saw Golden State come back from a five-point deficit late in the fourth quarter, Green picked the pocket of Nikola Jokic in the final seconds of the contest to help his team take a commanding 3-0 lead in the series. After the wire-to-wire victory, Green broke down the play.
“I just saw the dribble was high and away from his body,” Green said, reliving the play in his mind. “I just went for it and I was able to get my hand on it.”
For Green, deciding to go for the steal against Jokic came as a risky one. Near the five-minute mark of the fourth quarter, Green, who was tasked with guarding the reigning league MVP in Jokic for the majority of the night, picked up his fifth foul.
Called for a personal foul against Jokic with 4:55 left to play in the game, Green sent the Denver big-man to the free throw line. Just one more foul away from being disqualified from the game, however, Green was not deterred to be aggressive.
“That’s money time. That’s when you’ve got to dig deep,” Green said. “You can’t play defense the last four minutes of the game worried about fouling out. If I do that, I’m doing my team a disservice. For me, it’s business as usual.
“I was more worried when I picked up my fourth. I didn’t want to catch that fifth too early,” Green continued. “Once I picked up the fifth, I’m going against [Jokic]. I have to be willing to use all six fouls at some point of the game…. I can’t start playing timid because I picked up a fifth foul. He’s tough enough to guard if I’m giving everything I got. Just got to go with it and hope for the best.”
Green’s gamble paid off quite well, in fact. As the Warriors held a 116-111 lead over the hosting Nuggets, Green took Jokic deep in the post as the seven-footer dribbled inside for position toward the basket.
“On the first dribble, when he hit me, I felt like I still had inside position,” Green said. “He took the second one and it was far away from his body. I’m already thinking right there, ‘if he takes one more dribble, I’m grabbing that.’ I feel like my body is released enough from him to where I can get a reach and if I don’t get it, I can still be in good position.”
The steal seen around the NBA Thursday night helped the Golden State Warriors seal a 118-113 victory and take a healthy 3-0 lead in the series. In the NBA teams with a 3-0 lead in the playoffs are 142-0.
