Inside The Warriors

Draymond Green Makes Strong Zion Williamson Statement After Warriors-Pelicans

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green spoke on New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson.
Joey Linn|
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) warms up before the game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Chase Center.
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) warms up before the game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Chase Center. | David Gonzales-Imagn Images

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Golden State WarriorsNew Orleans Pelicans

The Golden State Warriors were given their first major test of the NBA season when star point guard Steph Curry suffered in ankle injury against the LA Clippers. The team announced that Curry would be reevaluated on Friday, which meant he would miss at least their two-game set against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Sweeping this back-to-back against New Orleans, the Warriors defeated the Pelicans 124-106 on Tuesday and 104-89 on Wednesday. This was a very impressive showing for the Warriors who are now 4-1 on the season.

Draymond Green was key in both of these games for Golden State, as he was primarily tasked with the Zion Williamson assignment. While Williamson had a strong showing on Tuesday, finishing with 31 points on 12/19 shooting, he struggled mightily in the second game. Scoring just 12 points on 5/20 shooting, Williamson was held in check by Green and the rest of Golden State’s defense.

Zion Williamson and Draymond Green
New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) and Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) in the fourth quarter at the Chase Center. | Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

Asked about facing Williamson on consecutive nights, Green made a strong statement.

“It hurts bad,” Green said of facing the Pelicans star on two-straight nights. “But it was fun, man. He’s gotten so much better. Just playing him the first four years of his career. You could tell in previous years that he was getting in better shape, that he was starting to take the game more serious… You can tell now he’s been in the gym working and improving to get better.”

Green added, “He got the best of me last night and I just wanted to come out and put up a better defensive performance than I did last night.”

Green takes a lot of pride in his defense, and was able to bounce back with a strong showing on that end against a really tough opponent in Williamson. 

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Joey Linn
JOEY LINN

Joey Linn is a credentialed writer covering the NBA and WNBA for On SI. Covering the LA Clippers independently in 2018, then for Fansided and 213Hoops from 2019-2021, Joey joined On SI to cover the Clippers after the 2020-21 season. Graduating from Biola University in 2022 with a Communication Studies degree, Joey served as Biola's play-by-play announcer for their basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. Joey's work on Biola's broadcasts and in the classroom earned him the Outstanding Communication Studies Student of the year award in 2022. Joey covers the NBA full-time, primarily serving as a Clippers beat writer.

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