Draymond Green’s improvement mirrors that of Warriors

OAKLAND — It was almost a year ago, inside that visitor’s locker room at Quicken Loans arena in Cleveland where Draymond Green sat with such a dour look and a defeated disposition.

Everything about him was out of character back then. His play. His utter lack of confidence. His inability to muster some spirit and meet the moment. In hushed tones, he admitted after Game 3 of last year’s NBA Finals that he picked the worst possible time to lose his way. His Golden State Warriors were down 2-1 to the Cavaliers, and Green was as big a reason as any as to why.

Fast forward 361 days, with the Warriors having rolled the Cavs 110-77 on Sunday at Oracle Arena to take a commanding 2-0 series lead in this underwhelming rematch, and Green finds himself atop the early leaderboard of Finals MVP candidates. Green, who looked so shook by the magnitude of the stage in 2015 when he missed 23 of 31 shots through three games, turned in a 28-point, seven-rebound, five-assist outing that surely left Cavs fans wondering — yet again — when their city’s 52-year championship drought might end.

Teams that fall behind 2-0 in the Finals have lost 28 of 31 times, and 244 of 261 teams that trailed 2-0 in a seven-game series fell short. So yes, in other words, it’s as ugly as the Cavs’ three-point attack that has been eviscerated by the Warriors’ defense through two games (12-of-44 for 22.7% — after they averaged 14.4 made threes on 43.2% shooting in the playoffs entering the Finals).

This is another example of why the Warriors pose such problems for a Cavaliers team that, thus far,  has been outclassed in every way. They were the better team a year ago, and they’ve only grown into more of a basketball monster ever since.

For all the talk of how things might have been different back then if Cleveland hadn’t been without Kyrie Irving (after Game 1) and Kevin Love, the reality is that Golden State improved in the kind of way that we simply shouldn’t overlooked. It went way beyond the simple math — 67 regular seasons wins in 2014-15, a record 73 this time around — and into less-tangible things like maturity, poise and unwavering belief.

Category: Basketball