Three points (1/4 on shots), 7 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 blocks. Its final statistical line may not be anything to write home about, but the name of Draymond Green comes back in the mouths of several of his teammates after the victory over the Pelicans. While Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins and De'Anthony Melton were all on the sidelines.
The inside of the Warriors spoke at halftime of a match which started very badly for the Californians. Trailing by 20 points at the start of the second quarter, Brandin Podziemski, Lindy Waters III and the others had to work to return to the locker room with a suitable gap (47-51).
After this visit to the locker room, the idea was to leave with a different state of mind and to no longer suffer against Zion Williamson and his gang. “ We were a little lethargic in the first half. In the second half, Draymond challenged us to attack them first “, reports Gary Payton II.
The latter cites as proof the way his team finished the first period. “ We were able to see in this second quarter what happens when we are aggressive, things are starting to go our way », notes the rear in reference to the 33-20 passed in this period.
A differential of 35 points
“ Draymond knows this team very well, and when you put pressure on them and force them to make quick decisions, bad things happen (for the opponent) and good things tend to happen for us », deduces Payton, whose team won the last three quarters by a score of… 110 to 75 (+35!).
“ It all starts with Draymond. He came into the locker room and told us, 'They look good right now, but once we put the pressure on, they're all going to die down.' And the same thing happened. You saw it. We all came back with the same mindset: put pressure on defense », adds Jonathan Kuminga.
As a result, the Warriors intercepted 16 balls and generated 24 losses for the Pelicans (compared to 7 for the Warriors). “ He said as long as we put pressure on defense, the offense was going to be easy. This is what happened “, insists Kuminga, speaking of the one who remains the boss in the Warriors locker room.
