Back in the 2015 NBA Finals, the Cavaliers made their series against the Warriors far more competitive than it should’ve been by exposing Golden State’s biggest weakness at the time. By focusing their defense almost entirely on Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, they forced other players on the Warriors to beat them. It wasn’t enough for the Cavaliers to win more than two games, but it helped them limit Draymond Green to 11.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists on 34.1 percent shooting from the field and 18.2 percent from the 3-point line in the opening four games.
Green’s numbers from the perimeter should stand out the most. He only made 33.7 percent of his 4.2 3-point attempts per game that season, yet bounced back the following season to make 38.8 percent of his 3.2 3-point attempts per game. It helped turn the Warriors into the juggernaut that won 73 games because it gave defenses no easy out — teams could no longer abandon Green on the perimeter to throw multiple defenders at Curry and Thompson with Green emerging as one of the NBA’s best 3-point shooters, which opened up the rest of his game.
That’s why Green shooting 30.8 percent from the 3-point line during the regular season would’ve been troublesome had he not regained his shooting stroke in these playoffs. Green has been one of the best 3-point shooters in the postseason having made a total of 21 3-pointers on 41 attempts through eight games. Only nine players have made more 3-pointers than Green, seven of which have played at least one more game than him. Plus, as you can see below, his spot-up numbers are basically at Stephen Curry levels: 1.68 points per possession to rank in the 97.0 percentile.
The same goes for catch-and-shoot opportunities. Green leads all players in catch-and-shoot points per game and he’s knocking down 2.6 catch-and-shoot 3-pointers per game. For comparison’s sake, here’s how he matches up with Eric Gordon, Gordon Hayward, Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Love and more in these playoffs:
There’s an obvious caveat to all of this: Green doesn’t shoot nearly as many contested 3-pointers as some of the other players on those lists. According to NBA.com, all but one of his 3-pointers have been open (10-for-20) or wide open (10-for-18) in the postseason. Compare that to Curry (10 3-pointers against tight coverage) and Kawhi Leonard (eight 3-pointers against tight coverage), and it’s no wonder why Green’s success rate is better than most. He doesn’t have to put the ball on the floor to create 3-pointers, either, with all of his makes coming without a dribble. That is, once again, quite different from many long distance shooters.
Even so, not only did Green struggle to knock down those very looks in the regular season, the Warriors don’t need Green to take anything but open 3-pointers. For example, whether it’s Shaun Livingston trying to get a quick post-up against a smaller defender in transition…
…Curry turning the corner in a pick-and-roll with Green as the roll man…
…Curry turning the corner in a pick-and-roll with Green spotting-up on the wing…
…or Kevin Durant making a play off the dribble while Green lurks on the perimeter…
…Green’s defender has a way of abandoning him to throw another body at whatever mismatch is on the court. It’s not a bad tactic when he’s making less than 20 percent of his 3s — you know, as we saw in the 2015 NBA Finals — but it’s not nearly as effective when Green is confidently letting it fly from the perimeter while making one in every two attempts. Although the solution is to simply play him closer to take away those open looks, doing so would create more room for Curry, Thompson and Durant to operate, which we all know is a death sentence.
Next: The burden of being unbeaten in the NBA Playoffs
Green is still doing everything else as well. He’s averaging 9.1 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 2.6 blocks, 2.0 steals and only 1.8 turnovers to go along with his 14.9 points per game in these playoffs. He’s also holding opponents to 43.1 percent shooting at the rim, which is far better than a number of big men like DeAndre Jordan (58.9 percent), Marc Gasol (55.9 percent), a slightly injured Rudy Gobert (46.3 percent) and Al Horford (45.2 percent). Throw his knockdown shooting into the mix and Green couldn’t have picked a better time to be firing on all cylinders.
All statistics are up to date as of May 10.