The Golden State Warriors are now in the play-in tournament, in no small part due to a crucial miss from Draymond Green at point-blank range.
Green ended up with pie on his face during the Warriors’ critical loss in overtime on Sunday to the LA Clippers. Needing a victory to clinch a top-six seed and escape the play-in, Golden State had the ball down 121-119 with under 30 seconds left in the extra period.
Facing a scrambling defense after a double-team of Steph Curry, Warriors guard Gary Payton II flashed out to the free-throw line, received the pass, and found Green wide-open under the basket before the Clippers could rotate back. But Green, instead of just going up for the easy shot to tie the game, threw his body sideways at an awkward angle to try to draw a foul.
As a result, Green fired up a weak layup attempt that missed badly, and the Clippers collected the rebound. The Warriors never scored again from there and went on to lose 124-119. Here is the video.
Speaking with reporters after the game, Green spoke on his close-range miss and offered a four-word reaction.
“I smoked a layup,” said Green bluntly, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
It is hard to overstate how terrible that miss was by Green. Had he successfully laid the ball in, the game would have been tied, and the Clippers (who had no timeouts left at the time) would have had to create an opportunity against a set Warriors defense. Golden State would have also been able to get the ball back with around three or four seconds left and a timeout of their own left to advance the ball with. But instead, Green tried to get cute and draw a foul (an even worse strategy considering that Green was just a 68.7 percent free throw shooter this season).
With the loss, the Warriors will now face the Memphis Grizzlies in the 7-8 play-in game later this week. Should they win that game and advance, Golden State would face the No. 2 seed Houston Rockets, a team that has already given them plenty of trouble this season.
