Draymond Green seals Warriors' Game 4 win with another play to remember him by
SAN FRANCISCO — Draymond Green was stunned and stoked, simultaneously.
He didn't expect to be isolated at the free-throw line, on an island with the outcome of Game 4 to be determined by his resistance. Houston's strategy for a game-winning bucket, its last stand to even this Western Conference first-round series, couldn't be to go at him. HIM? No way. He isn't that lucky.
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But with 13.4 seconds remaining Monday, the Rockets inbounded the ball to Alperen Şengün and, as the clock ticked under 10 seconds, he went for it. Şengün sized up Green and went iso.
The Golden State Warriors' defensive anchor couldn't believe it. He also couldn't wait.
If confidence was measured on a scale to 100, Golden State's level of belief is all the way up if the game comes down to Green making a play on defense.
'I feel like 100,' Steve Kerr said.
Said Steph Curry: '101.'
'He's the best defender I've ever seen in my life,' Kerr said. 'He rises to the occasion. On top of being a great defender, he's an incredible competitor. We've seen it. I've seen it for 11 years. Game on the line, Draymond making a stop. It's like having Steph Curry take the shot.'
Green didn't miss, and the Warriors hung on for a 109-106 win that put them up 3-1 in the best-of-seven series.
DRAY GOT THE STOP 🚫 pic.twitter.com/UHEW3zUIJS
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) April 29, 2025
These opportunities don't happen often. To win the game with a stop. To flex his superiority in a clutch moment. To make defense preeminent. Especially coming off finishing third in Defensive Player of the Year voting, getting to go one-on-one with Şengün at his best? That's Draymond's jam.
Yes, Green desired a second DPOY. He wants first-team All-Defense even more. But of utmost importance, more than a trophy, more than accolades, more than stats, he wants you to remember him.
No doubt, NBA fans will remember his verbosity, his rage that often burns out of control, his many controversies, his bullying tactics on players and refs, his untimely technicals and costly suspensions, his embrace of villainhood. But with those, it must be remembered that Green was the best in his era at his craft. That his excellence produced the biggest of wins, at a level only a small percentage of players ever claim. In an era dominated by Curry and LeBron James, two of the greatest ever, Draymond Green forged his name.
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He's seared himself into the annals of basketball history with an inventory of high-stakes moments just like the one Monday night at Chase Center — where his defense makes an impact equivalent to a big shot and his stamp on the game was undeniable. This is how he gets the cachet of clutch. This is how a master of the intangibles makes sure he's felt.
'They always try to go at him,' Warriors center Kevon Looney said. 'It never works. Gotta come with a better plan than that.'
Şengün, the Rockets' 6-foot-11 maestro in the post, had spent the better part of the second half devouring Warriors defenders like warm simit. But most of that was while Green sat on the bench with foul trouble. Şengün scored 17 points in the 12 minutes, 15 seconds Green sat with five fouls. And Şengün missed three free throws in that span.
But it was a bit of fool's gold. It adequately hurt Golden State and nearly delivered victory to Houston. But Şengün's hot streak set him up for failure on Houston's final possession. He was 3-for-11 against Green to that point. He's struggled all series dealing with the Warriors' undersized big. If not for that run of interior dominance, he might've known not to try Green in that moment.
'I told Dray,' Jimmy Butler said, 'if you get a stop, I will get the rebound.'
If.
This is the same defender who picked the pocket of Nikola Jokić in the post to stamp Game 3 in a 2022 first-round series against Denver.
Draymond was fired up after getting the steal on Jokic 🔥 pic.twitter.com/zFlhaKjdqe
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 22, 2022
The same defender who blocked Kyle Lowry's 3-pointer to seal Game 5 in the 2019 NBA Finals against Toronto. Who sent away a LeBron James drive in the final moments of overtime in Game 2 of the 2015 NBA Finals. Who snuffed out a Jaren Jackson Jr. 3-pointer to cap Game 4 against Memphis in the 2022 second round.
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For Green, 'when,' not 'if,' was the appropriate word.
He lives for these moments. He gets stronger at the end of games, in part because he despises being scored on when it matters most. It's a bent triggered by trauma. Back in the 2013 playoffs against Denver, when Green was a rookie, he was schooled so badly it made him sick. Literally. He was so angry and disgusted, he felt ill. In his mind, he was getting worked over, outsmarted by a craftier player. It created in him this soul-trembling disdain for getting cooked on defense.
He's been looking for that player since, to thank him for the foundational lesson that shaped his career. But Green said he still hasn't come across Andre Miller.
But the lessons from the veteran guard are still there, which is why Green tightens up and laser focuses. All the film study, all the leverage tricks. All his strength. It gets activated in these moments.
Şengün felt the resolve of a defensive legend when he lowered his shoulder into the 'Golden State' on Green's chest. Knowing it was coming, Green firmed up to absorb the contact. And despite watching Şengün's array of moves all second half, Green knew what was coming next: a right-handed jump hook. Because, as Green declared before, Şengün likes to spin back to the middle.
Green stepped forward, angling himself to be there when Şengün completed his spin, and kept his left hand straight up to force Şengün to get it over his 7-foot-2 wingspan.
'He doesn't let 'em get to their spot,' Looney explained. 'He knows the game so well, he knows how to get guys off their pet moves. And he's got a level of physicality. He knows they ain't calling nothing when the game's on the line. Which is how it should be. You gotta earn it.'
It's not that Green can't be scored on. He has been. A lot in his career. And that was a makeable attempt by Şengün. Green was fully prepared to tip his cap had the Rockets' big man made it.
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But the difference in this series, as projected from the beginning, would be the Warriors' experience. It played out at the end of Game 4 and worked in the Warriors' favor.
The Rockets didn't actually call for Şengün to go one-on-one vs. Green. They ran the same play that had worked twice: a pick-and-pop with Şengün handling and Fred VanVleet setting the screen. VanVleet hit his eighth 3-pointer after the Warriors rolled with Şengün and left him open, tying the game at 104. Then, with the Warriors up three, Şengün scored against Gary Payton II, who was switched onto the big man after VanVleet's screen. Not wanting to leave VanVleet open, Green had to accept the switch. Şengün scored easily, cutting the Warriors' lead to one.
So on the next defensive possession, Payton made the adjustment. He smacked the VanVleet screen — pressing so close to the screener that he couldn't set the pick — and gave Green the space to go under the screen and stay attached to Şengün. The switch didn't happen.
Which left Şengün needing to make a decision. He chose to attack Green.
Green was so close to being a culprit in this game. What happened while he sat with five fouls underscored his significance to the Warriors' defense, and to their chances. Which means Green getting involved with Dillon Brooks and Tari Eason, on separate occasions, is problematic for their end game. Fair or not, he must do what he needs to do to stay on the court. Monday was a reminder of how quickly his improved composure could go awry because the target is still on his back.
But none of that mattered because Şengün chose to go at him. And Green had a chance to add another defensive stop to his highlight reel.
'The amount of poise he has when everything he does, it's always blown out of proportion,' Butler said of Green. 'If it was anybody else, it wouldn't be that. To stay so calm, to come out there, get stops, kick us off on the offensive side of the ball. You're a special human being. That's why he's the Hustle Man of the Year. Remember that.'
Remember him.
(Top photo of Draymond Green and Stephen Curry celebrating after Monday's win: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
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