Draymond Green makes bold declaration ahead of Game 2 of Finals

Feb 20, 2020; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) stands on the court before the game against the Houston Rockets at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

Draymond Green, in true Draymond Green fashion, is remaining defiant despite his team’s meltdown in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

The Golden State Warriors forward Green reacted to Thursday’s loss to the Boston Celtics on the latest episode of his podcast for The Volume this week. One notable moment in the episode saw Green make a bold declaration — that he would not play as poorly as he did in Game 1 again this series.

“Most people will leave this game saying, ‘[Jayson] Tatum struggled, he won’t struggle like that again, the Warriors are in trouble,'” said Green. “I personally leave that game saying, ‘Hmmm, I won’t play as bad as I played again.’ Which will affect our team in a positive way.”

Green also said that he did not make “too much” of the defeat. He noted that the Warriors did a lot of standing around offensively during the second half and rotated poorly on defense at times against the Celtics’ dynamic drivers. Those are both problems that Green thinks his team can fix.

The four-time All-Star Green definitely put up a stinker in Game 1. He shot 2-for-12 from the field (including missing all four of his three-point attempts and all three of his free-throw attempts) to finish with four total points, 11 rebounds, and five assists. Green was also the only player on either side to foul out of the game.

That said, Green, who now has 28 career games of NBA Finals experience under his belt, is confident that he will not lay another egg in this series. Green also offered another explanation after Game 1 for why Boston’s performance might be unsustainable.